WOC - Research Biological Science Lab Technician (Animal)

Summary

This position serves as Without Compensation Biological Science Laboratory Technician (Animal) within the Office of Research and Development (ORD). The VA Research Program strives to promote Veteran-centered care to improve patient experiences and outcomes across VA healthcare and community settings, and to advance value-driven care by providing Veterans the highest quality care at the lowest financial burden. Please note, there is not pay associated with this position.

Duties

• Major Duties: Biospecimen handling and storage to include dry ice and ultra cold storage Prepares protein from rodent brain samples Performs various Protein techniques including cell extract preparation, quantification, electrophoresis, immunoblotting, and imaging Works with adeno-associated viruses and microinjection of viruses into rodent brain Performing rat husbandry including weaning, ear tag & punch, surgical procedures, anesthesia, post-surgery maintenance and euthanasia Performing experimental procedures involving rodent models including behavioral testing, injections, tissue sampling Preparing and analyzing histological samples from rodent models Working with computer software experience with Image J, Prism, Med Associates, Micro Bright Field, Microsoft Office Maintaining general lab organization, maintenance, and function Performing hazardous waste handling and disposal Work Schedule: Full-time (Without Compensation)

Qualifications

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Experience: You must possess general experience in (1) any type of work that demonstrates research activity or control program work (2) nursery work that required the growing and maintenance of plants in a controlled environment or (3) work comparable to that with a large dairy farm where production records, animal environment, and sanitary conditions were kept in accordance with modern dairy practice. OR, Education: 1 year of study that included at least 6 semester hours in any combination of scientific or technical courses such as biology, chemistry, statistics, entomology, animal husbandry, botany, physics, agriculture, or mathematics. Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of experience and education. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: The work is predominantly sedentary. Typically, the employee sits comfortably to do the work. However, there will be some walking, standing, bending and carrying of items of moderate weight such as large binders, banker style file boxes, meeting materials, papers, books or small parts. Hand and eye coordination for delicate testing procedures may be the only special physical demand required to perform the work.

Education

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.