Research Associate in Portland, Oregon at Oregon Health & Science University

Research Associate

US-OR-Portland

Requisition ID: 2026-39499
Position Category: Research
Job Type: Research
Position Type: Regular Full-Time
Posting Department: Dermatology
Posting Salary Range: $50,814.40 - $84,697.60 per year with offer based on experience, education and internal equity
Posting FTE: 1.00
Posting Schedule: Monday - Friday
Posting Hours: 8:00am - 5:00pm, varies
HR Mission: School of Medicine
Drug Testable: No
LinkedIn Job Code: #LI-CC1

Department Overview

The OHSU Dermatology Research Division merges basic, clinical and translational research in epithelial cell cancers and dermatologic diseases. Our basic and clinician-scientists are committed to innovative research on cancer and inflammation of skin with an impact on understanding causes and improving future treatment of muco-cutaneous diseases and providing more effective patient care.

The person who fills this position will report to Noah Hornick, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, in investigating methods for surveillance of melanoma recurrence / metastasis, as well as mechanisms of inflammation in the skin during adverse reactions to cancer immunotherapy. Responsibilities will include conducting experimentation that leverages techniques including the processing of human tissue samples (skin, tumor, and blood) in order to extract single cells, nuclei, DNA, RNA, and protein; histologic work including the chromogenic and fluorescent labeling and imaging of slides, preparation of spatial, single-cell, and bulk RNA libraries for sequencing, cell culture, and flow cytometry. The Research Associate will also be responsible for contributing to documentation and data analysis related to this experimentation, as well as to the preparation of figures for publication.

Function/Duties of Position

• Supports basic day-to-day functions of the lab, including assisting with ordering supplies. Oversees and assists with training of new or temporary students and other personnel. Attends all laboratory research and division/department meetings.
• Independently sets up and carries out cell culture experiments with cell lines and primary human skin cells. Analyzes results using techniques listed in position summary. Independently prepares, labels, and images slides using stains, immunolabeling, and in situ hybridization with both chromogens and fluorophores. Processes human blood and tissue to produce single-cell suspensions, single-nucleus suspensions, peripheral blood mononuclear cells, serum, and plasma. Prepares cDNA libraries for sequencing from fixed and frozen tissue through 10X Genomics protocols: Visium, Chromium, Chromium Flex, and Epi Multiome. Prepares and labels single-cell suspensions from patient samples and cultured cells, performs flow cytometry analysis.

Required Qualifications

• Master’s Degree in relevant field AND 3 years of relevant experience

  • OR

• Bachelor’s Degree in relevant field AND 5 years of relevant experience.

• At least 1 year of relevant work experience in biomedical research lab

• Fluency with relevant mathematics / basic statistics, experience with MS Excel

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in relevant field and 5 years of relevant experience.

• Prior imaging or histology experience, single-cell transcriptome analysis experience, R programming, and python programming experience are helpful
• Knowledge of immunology, dermatology, or sex hormone biology

Additional Details

The schedule will be full-time (40 hours per week), though the hours can be flexible on mutual agreement and may include evening and weekend work as needed depending on experimental timing demands. The location will be primarily in the dermatology laboratory and associated equipment rooms in CHH1. Specialized experiments will be conducted in core facilities. Exposure as part of this position may include human tissues and fluids.