Research Associate

**Date Posted**:02/05/2025
**Req ID**: 41545
**Faculty/Division**: UofT Mississauga
**Department**: UTM: Biology
**Campus**: University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM)

**Description**:
The university’s second largest division, U of T Mississauga has 17 academic departments and offers 156 programs in 92 areas of study. Home to approximately 15,000 students and over 1,000 faculty and staff, the campus houses the Mississauga Academy of Medicine, Centre for Medicinal Chemistry and Institute for Management and Innovation. With its distinctive interdisciplinary programs such as forensic sciences and biomedical communications, U of T Mississauga offers a broad array of continuing education programs and professional masters programs. Established in 1967, the campus features award-winning architecture, robust community partnerships and a dynamic student environment set amongst 225 acres along the Credit River in Mississauga.

The Research Associate - Limited Term position will be responsible for:

- Maintain a culture of _Trichoplax adhaerens_ along with its food algae _Rhodomonas salina_.
- Dissociate and maintain _Trichoplax_ cells _in vitro_, and identify crystal cells via light and fluorescence microscopy.
- Manually isolate and pool crystal cells from dishes in order to generate Illumina RNAseq libraries.
- Analyze crystal cell RNAseq transcriptome data to identify and quantify transcripts of genes encoding putative mechanosensitive channels.
- Use molecular biology techniques to clone the coding sequences of identified mechanosensitive channels into the mammalian expression vector pIRES2-EGFP.
- Transfect the pIRES2 vectors into mammalian cells (HEK-293T, CHO-K1) and perform whole-cell patch-clamp electrophysiology to characterize the biophysical properties of these receptors _in vitro_.
- Participate in and contribute to other projects being done in the Senatore lab.
- Contribute to the supervision and mentoring of graduate and undergraduate students doing research project in the lab.

**QUALIFICATIONS**:
**EDUCATION**:
Ph.D. in a relevant area of invertebrate cellular physiology and cell type evolution, or equivalent combination of education and experience.

**EXPERIENCE**:
At least three (3) to five (5) years of demonstrated experience working with _Trichoplax adhaerens_ and other early-diverging invertebrates. Particularly important is i) the ability to maintain healthy _Trichoplax_ cultures in the lab, which as noted also involves culturing their food algae _R.salina_, ii) to dissociate _Trichoplax_ animals into single living cells, iii) to identify and distinguish the different _Trichoplax_ cell types from each other, including crystal cells, using light and fluorescence microscopy, and iv) to manually isolate crystal cells for transcriptomic analysis.

**OTHER**:
Superior communication and organizational skills; Self-motivated with an ability to multi-task; Ability to work in a collaborative group; Ability to lead a project and co-ordinate research teams. Supervisory skills including effective teambuilding and the ability to establish positive working relationships and foster collaboration to achieve common goals; experience in training and monitoring performance; Strong verbal and written communication skills; strong organizational, decision-making and management skills.

**Closing Date**:03/19/2025, 11:59PM ET
**Employee Group**: Research Associate
**Appointment Type**: Grant - Term
**Schedule**: Full-Time
**Pay Scale Group & Hiring Zone**:R01 - Research Associates (Limited Term): $52,574 - $98,576
**Job Category**:Research Administration & Teaching

**This a one-year term position with the posibility of extension**

**Lived Experience Statement