Research Assistant

• Job Type: Support Staff - Union
• Bargaining Unit: SSA
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• End Date if Temporary:
• Hours Per Week: 35.00
• Standard Work Schedule:
• Building:
• Salary Range: $59,845.49 -$59,845.49

Position Summary

At the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Center for Precision Psychiatry & Mental Health, we envision a near future when mental illness is treated in novel, targeted, and tailored ways, based on a new understanding of how mental illness develops and persists, unique to each individual. Our mission is to apply advances in neuroscience, technology and precision medicine to psychiatry; to create breakthroughs that further our understanding of the biological causes and underpinnings of mental illness; and to discover treatments that alleviate suffering from conditions previously considered untreatable. By addressing biological causes, and identifying genetic and other biological markers, the SNF Center will eliminate the stigma of mental illnesses and address societal disparities by ensuring equitable access to breakthrough Precision Psychiatry treatments.

Job Summary: We are seeking a highly motivated and detail-oriented Research Technician to join a cutting-edge research project leveraging advanced computational methods for analysis of large-scale datasets. This position is part of an initiative at the SNF Center for Precision Psychiatry, focusing on understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying neuropsychiatric disorders, and opportunities for clinical innovation and therapeutic discovery. The successful candidate will contribute to the development and characterization of human pluripotent stem cell-based and transgenic mouse models to study disease mechanisms, as well as longitudinal clinical data for prognostic outcome prediction.

Responsibilities

• Analyzing cellular and molecular data, including calcium imaging-based neuronal population dynamics, from both animal and human cellular models, in collaboration with the research team.
• Maintaining detailed records of experimental analyses and results, including data processing pipelines, with regular backup and archiving onto lab servers.
• Contributing to innovative opportunities using longitudinal clinical data to build predictive models for improved diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis, including mining longitudinal data for insights relevant to translational and experimental studies.
• Performing other related duties and responsibilities as assigned/requested.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and at least one and one-half years of related experience or equivalent in education, training and experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience working with large-scale temporally-dynamic biological or clinical datasets is strongly preferred.

Other Requirements

• Knowledge of various related laboratory procedures and techniques required.
• Strong computational skills, including statistical modeling and machine learning.
• Experience with neuronal imaging techniques and data analysis using Python and Matlab is desirable.
• Strong organizational skills with attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to work collaboratively in a multidisciplinary team.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.