Associate Scientist- Eislmayr Laboratory

Dr. Kevin Eislmayr is establishing a new laboratory, and we are seeking an Associate Scientist to lead the scientific and operational wet-lab program.
This is a rare chance to help build a research operation from the ground up and to shape its direction, culture, and infrastructure.

The Eislmayr laboratory studies host-pathogen interactions during Shigella infection. We combine microbiology, in vivo and human organoid-immune cell co-culture, and conditional genetic models to get insights into how invasion of intestinal epithelial cells shapes the immune responses behind protective immunity, and how those responses balance tolerance against inflammation in the gut. We also investigate how pathogens have evolved to counteract these responses. Our goal is to uncover the fundamental rules of epithelial-immune crosstalk and build a new translational framework for gut barrier defense.
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Key Responsibilities:

Scientific Research

- Lead and oversee the laboratory's cell culture and bacterial operations.
- Maintain mammalian cell lines and primary cultures, including intestinal organoids.
- Develop stable and CRISPR-engineered cell lines
- Validate and maintain bacterial stocks and generate bacterial knockout and reporter strains
- Perform molecular biology and biochemical techniques including: Cloning
- Conjugation
- Transformation
- Transductions
- Transfections
- Immunoprecipitations
- Western blotting

- Conduct fluorescence and confocal microscopy experiments.
- Conduct in vitro and in vivo infection experiments
- Analyze data and maintain high-quality research documentation
- Contribute to manuscripts, grant applications, and presentations at lab meetings, institutional seminars, and scientific conferences

Laboratory Operations & Management

- Lead the setup of the new laboratory, including equipment procurement, installation, and commissioning
- Manage inventories, consumables, reagent stocks, and laboratory resources.
- Oversee service contracts and equipment maintenance activities.
- Ensure compliance with BSL-2 operations and institutional safety requirements, including SOPs, biosafety documentation, EH&S compliance, and training records
- Manage SOP development, biosafety documentation, EH&S compliance, and training records.
- Maintain laboratory electronic notebooks, protocol repositories, and data management systems.
- Train, onboard, and mentor laboratory personnel in experimental procedures and best practices.
- Provide supervision and scientific guidance to junior staff and trainees as the laboratory grows.

Minimum Education and/or Training:

- Bachelor’s degree in a relevant scientific area

Minimum Experience:

- 7 + years of research experience is required
- 5 + years of research experience is required with a Master’s
- 2 + years of research experience is required with a PHD
- Experience leading and supporting research experiments preferred
- Some experience leading lab and scientific project coordination, maintenance, and other research support activities preferred
- Experience in guiding and training other laboratory personnel preferred
- Proven performance in earlier role/comparable role

Strongly Preferred

- CRISPR-based genome engineering and stable cell line generation
- Protein biochemistry (immunoprecipitation, western blotting)
- Organoid, air-liquid interface, or other tissue-derived model systems
- Experience establishing or expanding a laboratory
- ELN administration or LIMS experience
- Sample preparation for flow cytometry, fluorescence microscopy, and confocal imaging
- Tissue handling for in vivo based studies.
- Training and supervision of scientific staff and students
- Hands-on experience with mammalian cell culture, including primary cells
- Experience with microbiology and molecular biology techniques (cloning, transformation, transfection)
- Experience with BSL-2 laboratory operations and biosafety practices

Who You Are:

You combine strong scientific expertise with a proactive, entrepreneurial mindset. You are comfortable working independently, building new processes, solving problems, and helping shape the culture and scientific direction of a growing program. You balance research excellence with lab management, and you bring strong project ownership, collaboration, mentorship, communication, and organizational skills.

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Compensation
In recognition of certain U.S. state and municipal pay transparency laws, St. Jude is including a reasonable estimate of the compensation range for this role. This is an estimate offered in good faith and a specific salary offer takes into account factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets, experience and training, licensure and certifications, and other business and organizational needs. It is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the salary range and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current salary range is $65,520 - $114,400 per year for the role of Associate Scientist- Eislmayr Laboratory.

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