Position Objective: Provide services as an Animal Biologist in support of the overall functions of the National Institute on Aging (NIA) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The contractor will independently provide support services to satisfy the overall operational objectives.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Work with staff to study the environmental effects on animal physiology and behavior, including food and water, temperature, cages and stress.
• Perform laboratory and animal technical duties associated with the Laboratory's ASP to include, but not limited to: establishing and maintaining animal colonies, weighing animals and feed, performing injections, operating behavioral equipment and running behavioral tests. 1
• Maintain animal colonies and organization of animal inventory associated with the laboratory's ASP; monitor procedures; maintain the amounts of animals used and animal procurement. 2
• Report any animal health, care, and or well-being concerns to the appropriate facility management staff and facility veterinarians.
• Perform perfusion; harvest and collect mouse tissues; perform histology and RNAscope studies; and conduct other molecular biological analyses. 3
• Perform confocal microscopy and image analyses with Imaris, NeuroInfor, and other software. 4
• Perform tissue and cell culture; use sterile technique.
• Perform light and confocal microscopy.
• Coordinate multiple animal studies running concurrently in different phases; follow and comply respectively with the ASPs.
• Perform laboratory and animal technical duties associated with the Lab’s ASPs to include, but not limited to: weighing animals and feed, blood withdrawals, performing injections, operating behavioral equipment
• Maintain animal colonies and organization of animal inventory associated with the laboratory’s ASPs; monitor procedures; maintain the amounts of animals used and animal procurement.
• Set up animal protocols; follow relevant SOPs.
• Maintain mouse colonies including handling of mice for hormone injection, mating, timed mating, and other experimental procedures; harvest and collect mouse embryos, tissues, and organs; perform microinjection and other procedures; and conduct other molecular biological analyses.
• Support oversight and progress of critical results in animal-based experiments including evaluating goal-specific phenotypes of animals; collaborate with Primary investigators and other experimental team members to determine, evaluate and discuss the progress of projects.
• Maintain integrity of the research process by following good laboratory practices including: detailed record keeping of methods, routine animal observations, data collections; perform procurement, processing, and preservation of specimens so as to maintain sample identification and prevention of cross contamination.
• Maintain database for all research activities; verify Mouse Facility database entries are accurate and up-to-date Practice universal precautions appropriate to different Animal BioSafety Levels ABSLs.
• Work with animal human pathogen biohazards; assist in the maintenance of the research laboratory animal facility as a safe work environment operation.
• Maintain optimum care and maintenance of research equipment for the routine hygiene and disinfection of research implements; act as a facilitator for entry of service personnel and facility users.
• Attend meetings with investigators, outside the facility, if necessary, to assist in coordinating animal research needs Serve as point of contact or liaison for the Laboratory in conjunction with the CMS contract staff and COR.
• Report any animal health, care, and or well-being concerns to the appropriate facility management staff and facility veterinarians.
• Report any facility infrastructure issues, relative to the animal holding areas and support areas, to the appropriate facility management.
• Support oversight and progress of critical results in animal-based experiments including evaluating goal-specific phenotypes of animals; collaborate with primary investigators and other experimental team members to determine, evaluate and discuss the progress of projects. 5
• Work with staff on the preparation of data and images for use in research presentations and publications.
• Document all laboratory procedures, experiments and results; maintain and update laboratory notebooks and databases.
• Work products and documents related to handling multiple animal studies; follow and comply with ASPs. - Ad-Hoc
• Work products and documents related to the maintenance of mouse colonies including handling of mice for injection, and other experimental procedures; perfuse, harvest and collect mouse brains for histology and RNAcope. - Ad-Hoc
• Work products and documents related to oversight and progress of critical results in animal-based experiments including evaluating behavioral and histology phenotypes of animals; collaborate with Primary Investigators and other experimental team members to determine, evaluate and discuss the progress of projects. - Ad-Hoc
• Computer generated work including maintaining database for all research activities; image analyses with Imaris, NeuroInfor, and other software. - Ad-Hoc

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Biology or a related discipline; four (4) years of specialized experience plus a high school diploma is equivalent to a Bachelor’s degree.
• Certification in laboratory animal science.
• Skilled in MS Office, Imaris, and NeuroInfor.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Ability to multi-task and pay close attention to detail.
• Excellent analytical, organizational and time management skills.
• Strong communication skills, both oral and written.

*This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required by this position.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed above are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

GAP Solutions provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. If you need an accommodation to apply for a job us at recruiting@gapsi.com. You will need to reference the requisition number of the position in which you are interested. Your message will be routed to the appropriate recruiter who will assist you. Please note, this email address is only to be used for those individuals who need an accommodation to apply for a job. Emails for any other reason or those that do not include a requisition number will not be returned.

GAP Solutions is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to their race, ethnicity, ancestry, color, sex, religion, creed, age, national origin, citizenship status, disability, medical condition, military and veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, and gender expression, familial status, political affiliation, genetic information, or any other legally protected status or characteristics.

This position is contingent upon contract award.