Senior Research Lab Specialist – biomarkers from exosomes and other microvesicles

Summary

The position will involve the development of protein biomarkers for monitoring patient therapy during chemoradiation treatment. The study will include the quantitative analysis of target proteins that change during a time-course of treatments for pancreatic cancer. This will be based specifically on analysis of proteins from exosomes and other microvesicles which have been isolated from patient serum. The analysis will involve isolation of exosomes from patient serum followed by analysis using targeted mass spectrometry. This will be a quantitative study using a newly developed universal internal standard based on the comparison between patients. The optimal markers will be determined for a larger study and will be evaluated based on the patient response to therapy.

Mission Statement

Michigan Medicine improves the health of patients, populations and communities through excellence in education, patient care, community service, research and technology development, and through leadership activities in Michigan, nationally and internationally.  Our mission is guided by our Strategic Principles and has three critical components; patient care, education and research that together enhance our contribution to society.

Responsibilities

• The need for expertise in isolation of exosomes by various techniques including ultracentrifugation, size exclusion, immunoaffinity chromatography and HIC chromatography.
• Ability to design EV isolation techniques using small serum samples
• The ability to handle, aliquot and track large numbers of serum samples.
• The ability to characterize exosomes via TEM and light scattering methods.
• The ability to process exosomes for further analysis including lysis of EVs and digestion of proteins.
• Analysis of exosomal proteins quantitatively between patients using high resolution mass spectrometry.
• The ability to use databases to interpret the mass spec data and evaluate changes in protein levels between patients.

Required Qualifications

•  Ph.D. in either chemistry, protein chemistry or bioengineering
•  5-6 years of related experience, i.e., published in a field of specialty and academic knowledge in a field or discipline.
•  An equivalent combination of education and experience may be accepted, including relevant undergraduate and graduate student experience.
•  Experience designing EV isolation techniques
•  Experience in handling patient serum samples
•  Experience in quantitative mass spectrometry and interpretation
•  Experience in isolating exosomes and microvesicles
•  Experience in evaluating exosome properties using Western blot, ZetaView, Nanosight and use of  TEM.
•  Experience with designing internal standards while working with patient samples.
•  Experience identifying early-stage EV based cancer biomarkers.