Research Technician – Immunology and Immunoengineering

Research Technician – Immunology and Immunoengineering BioTranslation Lab | Brigham and Women's Hospital | Harvard Medical School | Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard Location: Boston, MA Position: Full-time, on-site Principal Investigator: Nitin Joshi, PhD 

About the BioTranslation Lab

The BioTranslation Lab is led by Dr. Nitin Joshi, Assistant Professor at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School and Associate Member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. The laboratory is based at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School and is affiliated with the Broad Institute.

We develop materials and therapeutic delivery technologies to address unmet medical needs and improve patients' lives. Our interdisciplinary research brings together chemistry, materials science, biology, engineering, and medicine to advance technologies from fundamental design and mechanistic investigation through preclinical validation toward clinical application. Major research areas include long-acting therapeutics, non-viral delivery of RNA and gene therapies, and immunoengineering.

A defining feature of our laboratory is its commitment to translation. We connect rigorous scientific investigation with clinically relevant questions and the practical challenges of developing new therapies. Researchers join a diverse, international team and collaborate with scientific and clinical communities across Harvard, MIT, Mass General Brigham, and the Broad Institute.

Position Overview

We seek an experienced research technician with substantial hands-on expertise in experimental immunology to support the development of material-based therapeutic approaches for immune-mediated and inflammatory diseases.

The successful candidate will investigate how biomaterials, nanoparticles, and therapeutic payloads affect immune-cell function and treatment responses. Working closely with Dr. Joshi, postdoctoral researchers, and collaborators, they will perform and troubleshoot immunological assays, interpret results, and help establish reproducible experimental methods.

This position requires demonstrated experience with primary immune cells, multicolor flow cytometry, and functional immunology assays. Prior experience in materials science or drug delivery is welcome but not required.

Responsibilities

• Isolate, culture, and characterize primary immune cells from blood and tissues.
• Perform multicolor flow cytometry to identify immune-cell populations and assess activation states, therapeutic delivery, and treatment responses.
• Conduct functional immunology assays measuring activation, proliferation, cytokine production, and other relevant immune responses.
• Evaluate the effects of biomaterials and therapeutic delivery systems on immune-cell function and viability.
• Develop, optimize, and troubleshoot assays using appropriate experimental controls.
• Support preclinical studies, tissue collection, sample processing, and downstream immune analyses.
• Analyze and interpret results, present findings at laboratory meetings, and contribute to experimental planning.
• Contribute to manuscripts, reports, and scientific presentations.
• Maintain accurate laboratory records, protocols, and sample inventories.
• Participate in collaborative projects and routine laboratory operations.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's or master's degree in immunology or a related discipline, with substantial hands-on experience in an immunology research laboratory.
• Demonstrated ability to independently perform, troubleshoot, and interpret experiments involving primary immune cells.
• Strong experience in both:
  • Multicolor flow cytometry and immune profiling, including panel design or optimization, appropriate controls, compensation or spectral unmixing, and analysis using FlowJo or equivalent software.
  • Primary immune-cell isolation, culture, and functional assays, such as T-cell activation and proliferation, macrophage or dendritic-cell stimulation, or other assays relevant to immune regulation.
• Experience measuring cytokine responses using ELISA, multiplex assays, or intracellular cytokine staining.
• Ability to distinguish treatment effects from changes in cell viability or cell-population composition.
• Strong experimental documentation, organizational, communication, and teamwork skills.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience in one or more of the following would be valuable:

• Autoimmunity, inflammation, transplantation, or other immune-mediated disease research.
• Tissue dissociation and analysis of tissue-infiltrating immune cells.
• Regulatory T-cell assays, immune-cell cocultures, or other specialized functional assays.
• Assessing immune responses to biomaterials, nanoparticles, or therapeutic delivery systems.
• RNA delivery or transfection studies in primary immune cells.
• Mouse handling, preclinical disease models, and tissue collection.
• RNA extraction, quantitative PCR, immunofluorescence microscopy, or tissue-based analyses.

Applicants do not need experience in every preferred area. Strong experimental immunology expertise is the priority.

Why Join the BioTranslation Lab?

Help develop technologies that improve patients' lives. Our goal is to turn scientific discoveries into therapeutic technologies that address unmet medical needs. Your immunology expertise will help determine how these technologies work, how safely they interact with the immune system, and whether they deliver meaningful therapeutic benefit.

Connect discovery with clinical translation. Work in a laboratory that advances technologies from fundamental design and mechanistic studies through preclinical validation toward clinical application. You will gain experience connecting experimental findings with the decisions needed to move a promising therapy forward.

Work across disciplines on consequential problems. Collaborate with engineers, biologists, and clinicians to develop material-based approaches for immune-mediated and inflammatory diseases. The lab's connections across Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and the Broad Institute provide a rich scientific and clinical environment.

Make a substantive scientific contribution. Take responsibility for important experiments, contribute to assay development and research decisions, and help generate the evidence supporting new therapeutic approaches. Opportunities may include contributions to publications and scientific presentations.

Build your expertise and career. Receive close mentorship while expanding your skills in immunology, immunoengineering, and therapeutic development, with career guidance tailored to your goals.

How to Apply

Please apply directly through Handshake and submit:

• CV.
• Brief cover letter describing your relevant immunology experience. Please identify the primary immune cells and model systems you have studied, the flow cytometry and functional immunology assays you have personally performed, and an example of an assay you independently developed, optimized, or troubleshot.
• Names and contact information for two references.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

Learn more: BioTranslation Lab (https://www.thejoshilab.com)

Commitment to an Inclusive Scientific Community

The BioTranslation Lab is committed to an inclusive, collaborative, and intellectually vibrant research environment where individuals from diverse backgrounds and experiences can thrive. We encourage applications from individuals historically underrepresented in science, engineering, medicine, and biotechnology, including those from disadvantaged, first-generation, and nontraditional educational backgrounds.