This position is part of the National Institute of Standards (NIST) Professional Research Experience (PREP) program. NIST recognizes that its research staff may wish to collaborate with researchers at academic institutions on specific projects of mutual interest, thus requires that such institutions must be the recipient of a PREP award. The PREP program requires staff from a wide range of backgrounds to work on scientific research in many areas. Employees in this position will perform technical work that underpins the scientific research of the collaboration.
The Microsystems and Nanotechnology Division at NIST is developing new tools for the rapid determination of retrospective dosimetry for ionizing radiation exposure. The project is the design, fabricate and test nanopore/nanopipette devices to measure radiation induced lesions on artificial DNA and structured plasmid DNA and establish the quantitative assessment of absorbed dose from such data. The project will include developing these measurements to assess relative biological effectiveness of dose and radiation modality laying the groundwork to provide a new measurement to define the Sievert, the derived SI unit for dose equivalent radiation. This supports NISTs mission of developing precision measurement for bioscience and by developing next-generation measurement tools to support the SI.
The work will entail:
Key responsibilities will include but are not limited to:
Collect and store irradiated DNA analyte in collaboration with medical physicists or radiation experts at NIST
Prepare, run and maintain DNA resistive pulse tools such as nanopores, nanopipettes as well as all relevant reagents.
Develop DNA fragment analysis software and computer models to be applied to DNA dosimetry
Communication results to the scientific, medical and business communities.
Supervise and instruct trainees in the lab when relevant.
Qualifications
§ A Ph.D. in Physics
§ 5 years of relevant experience in micro/nanofluidics and DNA analysis.
§ Familiarity with nanopore and nanopipette sensors.
§ Familiarity with ionizing radiation and radiation dosimetry.
§ Ability to develop prototypes, methods and analytical tools
§ Strong oral and written communication skills
Application Instructions
Privacy Act Statement
Authority: 15 U.S.C. § 278g-1(e)(1) and (e)(3) and 15 U.S.C. § 272(b) and (c)
Purpose: The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) hosts the Professional Research Experience Program (PREP) which is designed to provide valuable laboratory experience and financial assistance to undergraduates, post-bachelor's degree holders, graduate students, master's degree holders, postdocs, and faculty.
PREP is a 5-year cooperative agreement between NIST laboratories and participating PREP Universities to establish a collaborative research relationship between NIST and U.S. institutions of higher education in the following disciplines including (but may not be limited to) biochemistry, biological sciences, chemistry, computer science, engineering, electronics, materials science, mathematics, nanoscale science, neutron science, physical science, physics, and statistics. This collection of information is needed to facilitate administrative functions of the PREP Program.
Routine Uses: NIST will use the information collected to perform the requisite reviews of the applications to determine eligibility, and to meet programmatic requirements. Disclosure of this information is also subject to all the published routine uses as identified in the Privacy Act System of Records Notices: NIST-1: NIST Associates.
Disclosure: Furnishing this information is voluntary. When you submit the form, you are indicating your voluntary consent for NIST to use of the information you submit for the purpose stated.
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