Assistant Staff Scientist in Portland, Oregon at Oregon Health & Science University

Assistant Staff Scientist

US-OR-Portland

Requisition ID: 2026-39168
Position Category: Research
Job Type: Research
Position Type: Regular Full-Time
Posting Department: School of Dentistry, Dr. Carmem Pfeifer Lab
Posting Salary Range: $68,307- $113,838, Commensurate with qualifications and experience
Posting FTE: 1.00
Posting Schedule: Monday - Friday
Posting Hours: 8:00am - 5:00pm
HR Mission: Academics
Drug Testable: No

Department Overview

The School of Dentistry shares the mission of the Oregon Health & Science University to provide educational programs, basic and clinical research, and high quality care and community programs. We strive to foster an environment of mutual respect where the free exchange of ideas can flourish. The dental school prepares graduates in general dentistry and the dental specialties to deliver compassionate and ethical oro-facial health care.

Function/Duties of Position

The Pfeifer lab is a collaborative Research group within the School of Dentistry, Department of Biomaterial and Biomedical Sciences. The lab was established in 2011 and has been continuously supported by the NIH-National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, and others. We have a strong track record in the fields of Biomaterials and Polymer Chemistry, with over 150 publications and several full patents. Our focus is to develop materials solutions for use in healthcare applications (including oral) with a heavy emphasis at the interface with microbiology and host tissue interactions. We have been able to be successful in this quest thanks to a multi-disciplinary team of highly collaborative individuals, including materials scientists, clinicians, engineers, chemists and microbiologists. The work we do spans traditional materials science and cell biology. We'd love for you to join us!

Dr. Carmem Pfeifer seeks an Assistant Staff Scientist with extensive knowledge of microbiology and materials science related methods to drive research projects to academic and translational goals. This person will contribute to scientific direction of numerous projects and share the management responsibilities for lab members working on those projects. Technical expertise in the area molecular biology and molecular design, as well as collaborative research approach are key to success in this role.

Required Qualifications

• PhD in relevant field (Bioengineering, Biology, Biomaterials, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science)
• Doctoral degree in Biomedical Sciences or related fields and a minimum of 3 years of post-doctoral work experience in a research lab with a focus on material-tissue/biofilm interactions
• Intimate knowledge of molecular biology and microbiology assays
• Knowledge of how to operate various instrumentation and basic engineering principles for applications and troubleshooting with instrumentation (including at least a few of the following: Mechanical testing: universal testing machine (flexural strength, fracture toughness, dynamic mechanical analysis, rheology); Spectroscopic techniques (IR and UV-Vis, mass spec, GPC, HPLC); Imaging (SEM and confocal microscopy)
• Ability to optimize and adapt existing molecular biology protocols for analysis of modified material surfaces
• Familiarity with spatial analysis approaches such as spatial transcriptomics, especially for engineered tissues or on-chip systems
• Familiarity with technical writing, including research manuscripts, methods manuscripts, patents, and other IP documentation
• Ability to lead discussions around research projects and proactively communicate with research team members for the success of the project
• Ability to prioritize multiple tasks at one time
• Excellent communication, analytical, and organizational skills: both written and verbal
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team while being collaborative in resolving problems
• Intermediate skills with Microsoft Office (Excel, Outlook, Access, Word, and PowerPoint) on Window OS, and other advanced graphing and image design software (Prism, Origin, Photoshop, Adobe illustrator)
• Ability to use empathy and diplomacy to support trainees and other lab members

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with molecular biology techniques, in silico docking, molecular simulations, microbiology, materials science
• High-quality peer-reviewed publications
• Grant writing experience
• Small molecule synthesis
• Peptide synthesis
• MATLAB
• Additive manufacturing
• Workshop experience