This is a one-year temporary posted position.


*About the Job
This position supports a highly collaborative effort co-led by Professor John Bischof (Mechanical Engineering) and Professor Erik Finger (Surgery) working on cutting-edge research to enable long-term cryopreserved storage of transplant organs and tissues. This position is ideal for someone looking to gain research experience prior to graduate or medical school.

Primary areas of activity will include coating and characterization of iron oxide nanoparticles (support of existing and new method development) used in rewarming cryopreserved biomaterials, preparing cold storage and cryoprotective solutions, documenting and maintaining protocols, data acquisition and reporting, and general experimental support. The technician will contribute across multiple research projects. Opportunities for independent projects and contributions to publications may exist for high-performing candidates. The technician will work directly under the mentorship of a Chemistry Postdoc Researcher, along with lab PIs.

Background: Transplantation, regenerative medicine, and cell-based therapies are rapidly developing areas of research that offer great potential for improving human health. However, one of the greatest barriers to translation is the inability to apply these therapies when and where they are needed. Ex vivo biological systems have a limited shelf-life. Donor transplant organs and tissues only remain viable for hours. Engineered cells and tissues can be cultured, but typically with great effort, cost, and limited ability to transport prior to treatment. The ability to cryopreserve organs, tissues, and cells and provide them âœon-demand❠would transform how these lifesaving therapies are applied. The labs of Professors John Bischof (Mechanical Engineering) and Erik Finger (Surgery) through the UMN Organ and Tissue Preservation Center and NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC) for Advanced Technologies for the Preservation of Biological Systems (ATP-Bio), are looking for a motivated research technician to contribute towards making this a reality. We have recently published on our ability to cryopreserve and rewarm (rat) organs with maintenance of viability and function (Han and Rao et al. Nature Comm 2023) and the capability of cryopreserved islets to enable a cure for diabetes (Zhan and Rao et al. 2022). We plan to continue developing these approaches towards clinical scale and translation over the next several years, through support from three NIH R01s, the NSF ERC ATP-Bio, and several other awards. This includes work in transplant kidneys; transplant livers and liver cells and tissues; pancreatic islets; reproductive organs; hearts and cardiac systems; and many other developing applications. This is a highly collaborative effort providing extensive opportunities for training, networking, and mentorship for graduate school, medical school, or industry.

Specifically, this research technician position will be responsible for preparing and characterizing solutions used in cryopreserving organs and synthesizing, functionalizing, purifying, and characterizing magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles used in rewarming of cryopreserved organs. This role will provide hands-on experience with a wide range of organic and analytical chemistry techniques. This work will be conducted based on existing protocols under the mentorship of an experienced chemistry postdoctoral researcher, with the opportunity to conduct more independent and exploratory work based on interest and experience.


*Duties/responsibilities:
25% - Preparation of complex solutions with standard analytical techniques (aqueous w/ amphiphilic organics) 
25% - Coating, purification, and characterization of iron oxide nanoparticles
20% - Other characterization studies 
10% - SOPs, data summaries, and reporting
10% - General lab maintenance (cleaning, ordering, waste removal, forms/organization). 
10% - Meetings

*Required qualifications:
-BA/BS degree in Chemistry, Biology, Biochemistry, Biomedical Engineering, Pharmaceuticals, or related field OR a combination of education and relevant work experience to equal at least four years.
-Experience working in a university or industrial wet lab
-Strong communication skills
-Competence with Microsoft Office Suite
-Desire to work as a member of a highly collaborative team


*Preferred qualifications:
-Synthesis, purification, and characterization of nanoparticles and/or polymers
-Organic synthesis, and/or small molecule synthesis (distillation, biphasic separations, column chromatography, recrystallization, filtration)
-Organic and analytical chemistry characterization techniques. Including: pH balancing, osmometry, lyophilization, TEM, UV-vis, FTIR, NMR (and solid state), HPLC, DLS/Zeta, TGA 
-Microscopy and/or biological assays
-Working with biological systems (cell or tissue culture)
-Data processing and statistical analysis
-Presenting technical and scientific data
-Maintaining and organizing lab space

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