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Associate Research Scientist | Cellular Engineering & Cardiovascular Disease

Hinson Lab

Farmington, CT

The Hinson Lab is seeking a senior, highly motivated PhD-level scientist to provide scientific and operational leadership across multiple projects in the laboratory, including an ARPA-H-funded program focused on mechanisms and therapeutic mitigation of cardiotoxicity.

This individual will serve as a senior lab member responsible for guiding experimental strategy, mentoring trainees, and driving execution across genome editing, human stem cell-based disease modeling, and translational cardiovascular studies. The position is ideal for a candidate who thrives in a collaborative, fast-paced research environment and is motivated to translate mechanistic discoveries into therapeutic strategies.

The Hinson Lab, based at The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine in partnership with UConn Health, studies human cardiovascular disease-particularly heart failure and cardiotoxicity-using genome editing, pluripotent stem cell technologies, functional genomics, engineered cardiac tissues, and in vivo physiology platforms.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide scientific leadership across multiple NIH- and ARPA-H-funded projects.
• Oversee and optimize human iPSC culture, differentiation, and genome engineering pipelines.
• Lead development of cellular disease models and therapeutic screening platforms.
• Guide experimental design and execution for drug screening and mechanistic studies.
• Contribute to in vivo and in vitro cardiac physiology studies, including functional assessment of contractility.
• Mentor graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and research staff.
• Contribute to manuscript preparation, grant writing, and strategic program development.
• Maintain high standards of rigor, reproducibility, and data quality across projects.

Required Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, Genetics, Physiology, Biomedical Engineering, or related field.
• Significant postdoctoral training or equivalent senior-level research experience.
• Demonstrated leadership experience in a research setting.
• Strong publication record in peer-reviewed journals.
• Extensive hands-on experience with mammalian cell culture systems.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to manage multiple projects in parallel.
• Excellent writing and communication skills, able to work independently and effectively with other members in a productive team.

Core Expertise (Preferred)

• Human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) culture and cardiomyocyte differentiation.
• Genome editing platforms (CRISPR/Cas systems or related technologies).
• Development and execution of drug screening assays in cell-based systems.
• Experimental design and troubleshooting of complex cellular assays.

Additional Highly Desirable Skills

• In vivo cardiac physiology, including rodent echocardiography.
• In vitro cardiac functional measurements (e.g., contractility assays, engineered cardiac tissues, calcium imaging, microtissue platforms).
• Experience with cardiotoxicity models.
• AAV design and in vivo validation.
• Single-cell transcriptomics or other next-generation sequencing approaches.
• Computational or statistical experience (R, Python, genomic analyses).

**Please submit your current CV and 1-page (maximum) statement of Research Interests and Career Goals at time of application.

We are a diverse and inclusive research group, aspiring to produce top science and scientists through attentive and progressive mentoring and interdisciplinary teamwork.

Pay Range: $65,018 - $108,857 per year depending upon experience.

About JAX:

The Jackson Laboratory is an independent, nonprofit biomedical research institution with a National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center and nearly 3,000 employees in locations across the United States (Maine, Connecticut, California),Japan andChina. Its mission is to discover precise genomic solutions for disease and empower the global biomedical community in the shared quest to improve human health.

Founded in 1929, JAX applies over nine decades of expertise in genetics to increase understanding of human disease, advancing treatments and cures for cancer, neurological and immune disorders, diabetes, aging and heart disease. It models and interprets genomic complexity, integrates basic research with clinical application, educates current and future scientists, and provides critical data, tools and services to the global biomedical community. For more information, please visitwww.jax.org.

EEO Statement:

The Jackson Laboratory provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment in all job classifications without regard to race, color, religion, age, mental disability, physical disability, medical condition, gender, sexual orientation, genetic information, ancestry, marital status, national origin, veteran status, and other classifications protected by applicable state and local non-discrimination laws.