Research Associate I - Infectious Disease - Gollihar

At Houston Methodist, the Research Associate I position for the Antibody Discovery & Accelerated Protein Therapeutics (ADAPT) research group is responsible for overseeing daily laboratory operations. Under the direction of the Principal Investigator (PI) or Scientist (Faculty), this position trains lab personnel, ensures safety and regulatory compliance, oversees equipment maintenance and inventory, and coordinates with other teams to facilitate the successful execution of ADAPT’s high-throughput discovery and development projects. This role maintains meticulous records, manages daily laboratory operations, and prepares documentation for safety committees, supporting the ADAPT lab’s mission to develop cutting-edge therapeutic platforms. Key responsibilities include:

Daily operations & oversight: Manage and coordinate lab workflows, scheduling, and resource allocation to ensure efficient and safe operations, consistent with ADAPT’s mission and Houston Methodist policies.

Equipment & inventory management: Oversee equipment calibration, scheduling, and maintenance. Monitor and manage chemical, reagent, and consumable inventories. Ensure proper documentation of all maintenance and supply transactions.

Safety & regulatory compliance: Serve as Safety Officer by enforcing all laboratory safety protocols, ensuring team members complete required safety training, and maintaining up-to-date records for regulatory compliance.

Personnel training: Mentor and guide research staff, junior associates, students, and visitors in lab techniques, protocols, and SOPs. Facilitate open communication, foster a supportive team environment, and promote intellectual curiosity and professional development in line with ADAPT lab culture.

Research & experimental work: Collaborate on study design; perform and refine experimental protocols; gather, analyze, and summarize data. Contribute to scientific presentations, publications, and grant applications.

Collaboration & communication: Actively coordinate with Team Leaders, the PI, and department administrators to ensure seamless lab operations and timely achievement of project milestones. Communicate effectively with internal and external stakeholders while adhering to confidentiality protocols.

Record-keeping & data management: Maintain accurate, detailed records of experiments and lab activities in LabArchives and Box, ensuring data integrity and compliance with institutional policies.

Lab culture & teamwork: Uphold ADAPT lab’s culture by promoting collegiality, intellectual curiosity, shared credit, and open communication. Encourage high-quality, ethical research practices and a spirit of collaboration.

PEOPLE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Assigns and reviews the work and outcomes for projects completed by assistants.

• Contributes to a positive work environment and contributes to a dynamic, team-focused work unit that actively helps one other to achieve optimal department results. Collaborates with all members of the research team by actively communicating and reporting pertinent information as it relates to an assigned system(s) in a comprehensive manner.

• Provides contributions towards the improvement of department scores for turnover/retention/employee engagement.

SERVICE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Analyzes data for research grants and publications. Prepares scientific presentations for department meetings.

• Completes/performs research experiments and incorporates novel procedures and methods into research experiments as appropriate (low to medium complexity).

• Maintains accurate records of all research and data collection.

QUALITY/SAFETY ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Establishes and maintains quality control of project operations.

• Writes and maintains regulatory and safety committee applications/protocols.

• Identifies opportunities for corrective action and process improvement providing recommendations and contributes to meeting departmental and hospital targets for quality and safety.

FINANCE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Uses resources efficiently; does not waste supplies. Self-motivated to independently manage time effectively and prioritize daily tasks, minimizing incidental overtime.

• Assists with ensuring orders are on appropriate grants.

GROWTH/INNOVATION ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Participates in grant writing.

• Determines specific research project goals and objectives to be attained. Assumes responsibility and oversight for those goals and objectives.

• Seeks opportunities to identify developmental needs of self and takes appropriate action. Ensures own career discussions occur with appropriate management. Completes and updates the individual development plan (IDP) on an ongoing basis.

This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive; the employee will also perform other reasonably related business/job duties as assigned. Houston Methodist reserves the right to revise job duties and responsibilities as the need arises.

EDUCATION

• Master's degree in related field or terminal degree with two years post-doctoral experience

WORK EXPERIENCE

• Five years experience, depending on education level