Research Associate – Limited Term (1 year)

Date Posted: 02/05/2025

Req ID: 41545

Faculty/Division: UofT Mississauga

Department: UTM: Biology

Campus: University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM)

Description:

The university’s second largest division, U of T Mississauga has 17 academic departments and offers 156 programs in 92 areas of study. Home to approximately 15,000 students and over 1,000 faculty and staff, the campus houses the Mississauga Academy of Medicine, Centre for Medicinal Chemistry and Institute for Management and Innovation. With its distinctive interdisciplinary programs such as forensic sciences and biomedical communications, U of T Mississauga offers a broad array of continuing education programs and professional masters programs. Established in 1967, the campus features award-winning architecture, robust community partnerships and a dynamic student environment set amongst 225 acres along the Credit River in Mississauga.

The Department of Biology at the University of Toronto Mississauga invites applications for a Research Associate (Limited Term) and under the supervision of the Principal Investigator will contribute to their research focused on the evolution of metazoan cell types and electrochemical signaling in the nervous system. Specifically, the Research Associate will spearhead a project exploring the single cell transcriptome and molecular physiology of crystal cells from the early-diverging animal Trichoplax adhaerens, which are thought to be mechanosensitive cells involved in gravity detection. Through transcriptomics, a central objective will be to identify expressed genes encoding putative receptors that are capable of mechanotransduction (e.g., TRP channels, Deg/ENaC channels, Piezo channels), which will be subsequently cloned and characterized in vitro using whole-call patch clamp electrophysiology. Efforts will then be undertaken to disrupt the expression of these receptors in vivo, to search for causal roles in the gravitactic behavior of the animal.

The Research Associate – Limited Term position will be responsible for: 

• Maintain a culture of Trichoplax adhaerens along with its food algae Rhodomonas salina.
• Dissociate and maintain Trichoplax cells in vitro, and identify crystal cells via light and fluorescence microscopy.
• Manually isolate and pool crystal cells from dishes in order to generate Illumina RNAseq libraries.
• Analyze crystal cell RNAseq transcriptome data to identify and quantify transcripts of genes encoding putative mechanosensitive channels.
• Use molecular biology techniques to clone the coding sequences of identified mechanosensitive channels into the mammalian expression vector pIRES2-EGFP.
• Transfect the pIRES2 vectors into mammalian cells (HEK-293T, CHO-K1) and perform whole-cell patch-clamp electrophysiology to characterize the biophysical properties of these receptors in vitro.
• Develop and apply siRNA and morpholino approaches to reduce the expression of target receptors in vivo, and conduct behavioral experiments to determine of a given receptor plays a causal role in crystal cell mechanotransduction and gravity sensing behavior.
• Participate in and contribute to other projects being done in the Senatore lab.
• Contribute to the supervision and mentoring of graduate and undergraduate students doing research project in the lab.

QUALIFICATIONS:

EDUCATION:

Ph.D. in a relevant area of invertebrate cellular physiology and cell type evolution, or equivalent combination of education and experience.

EXPERIENCE:

At least three (3) to five (5) years of demonstrated experience working with Trichoplax adhaerens and other early-diverging invertebrates. Particularly important is i) the ability to maintain healthy Trichoplax cultures in the lab, which as noted also involves culturing their food algae R.salina, ii) to dissociate Trichoplax animals into single living cells, iii) to identify and distinguish the different Trichoplax cell types from each other, including crystal cells, using light and fluorescence microscopy, and iv) to manually isolate crystal cells for transcriptomic analysis.

OTHER:

Superior communication and organizational skills; Self-motivated with an ability to multi-task; Ability to work in a collaborative group; Ability to lead a project and co-ordinate research teams. Supervisory skills including effective teambuilding and the ability to establish positive working relationships and foster collaboration to achieve common goals; experience in training and monitoring performance; Strong verbal and written communication skills; strong organizational, decision-making and management skills.

Closing Date: 03/19/2025, 11:59PM ET

Employee Group: Research Associate

Appointment Type: Grant – Term

Schedule: Full-Time

Pay Scale Group & Hiring Zone: R01 — Research Associates (Limited Term): $52,574 – $98,576

Job Category: Research Administration & Teaching

This a one-year term position with the posibility of extension

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