Research/Technical Assistant

Location
Sydney NSW
 
Full job description
We’ve come a long way from our humble beginnings 40+ years ago. However, for 4 decades, our vision has been the same — to save the lives of all children with cancer and improve their long-term health through research. It’s not if. It’s when.

To accomplish our vision, we’re seeking someone who lives our values: owning and delivering meaningful work, collaborating to drive impact, challenging the status quo to create a better future, and balancing logic with empathy. Let’s achieve more, together.

The Sarcoma Biology and Therapeutics (SBT) group at Children’s Cancer Institute is Australia’s first and only research laboratory solely focussed on sarcomas affecting the young. Our mission: finding better and kinder treatments for these young patients and make new drugs a treatment reality.

We have an exciting opportunity for a Research/Technical Assistant to join our team and contribute to this important research. The main purpose of this role is to assist our sarcoma team with in vivo patient-derived xenograft (PDX) work. Sarcomas are an incredibly difficult to treat type of cancer that disproportionally affect children and teenagers. We have a wide range of in vivo experiments planned to help pinpoint the best treatments for children with sarcomas, which include drug dosing, experimental monitoring, tumour growth measurements, tumour implantations (mostly subcutaneous), harvesting of tumours and other in vivo-related work. Depending on the experimental schedule, assisting with in vitro studies, such as maintaining cell cultures or some molecular work may be part of your role as well, though the main focus will be on in vivo studies. It is also expected that labbooks and digital forms are kept up to date and that you have excellent communication and presentation skills to keep us well-informed on the status of the experiments.

Because of the nature of this work, it is critical to have experience with in vivo (PDX) modelling/animal work and the vast majority of the techniques mentioned above. It is also essential to have the confidence and proven capability to perform these handlings autonomously.


To succeed you will have…

Bachelor of Science or equivalent
Prior experience in in vivo/animal work is required
Excellent and independent skills in in vivo PDX work, including expertise in the majority of the following techniques:
Subcutaneous surgery and/or subcutaneous injection of cells
Preparing and administering drugs including IP, PO, IV routes
Biochemical and haematological testing
General handling and monitoring of in vivo PDX experiments
Tumour harvesting
Processing of tumour xenografts (incl. cryopreservation, snap-freezing and FFPE storage)
Demonstrated good organisational capability and data management
In vitro cell culture experience is desirable

We will support you to be your best with benefits that include but are not limited to:

Focus on employee wellbeing, including up to 5 gifted wellbeing days off (paid) per year
Access to Fitness Passport, with access to an extensive choice of fitness facilities across Sydney at discounted rates
Corporate discounts and discounts on education through UNSW
Additional information about Children's Cancer Institute can be found on our website at: https://www.ccia.org.au/careers-study . We make hiring decisions based on your experience, skills and passion, as well as how you can enhance Children’s Cancer Institute and our culture. We embrace diversity and encourage you to advise of any reasonable adjustments you may need during the recruitment process. Read more