To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing this letter in reference to the Research Associate position at the Randall
Division of Cell and Molecular Biophysics. I have recently deposited my dissertation
and I will be presenting it in April 2015. The Randall Division of Cell and Molecular
Biophysics is a huge Institution and the work that has been developed there for the past
two decades is astonishing. I am certain that this entry would be an excellent
opportunity to improve my knowledge in order to grow as a postdoctoral researcher.
I studied Veterinary Medicine and during the last two years of my degree I took an
internship in the Anesthesia department where I was able to work with several species
including cats, dogs and smaller animals. I think that my degree has given me a very
strong background in general and cellular knowledge of mammalians and, I believe that
it puts me in a unique position to apply for this job
I have been working in the neurobiology of hearing field for almost seven years now.
Throughout this period I have gained experience in many different aspects:
- I have taken several training courses for specific laboratory animals handling,
including mice, rats, and rabbits. I have successfully worked with these species and
accomplished a great degree of expertise in both Spain and England.
- Since the inner ear is a very inaccessible structure, I have acquired a high level of
expertise in a range of microscopy techniques. I have used numerous confocal
microscopes as well as other regular fluorescence microscopes. Through my stay at Dr.
Karen Steels laboratory, I also learnt how to process, handle and image inner ear
samples for Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) along with other techniques.
- For the past three years I have collaborated in a project involving treatment with
decidual stem cells, and even though my job did not include cell culture, I did handle
them for transplantation and read a vast amount of literature in the field.
- In addition to the research experience, I have set up and managed specific equipment
for routinely measurements in the auditory field (Check Tucker Davies Technologies
for more information). Due to the nature of this analyses I am used to use big
datasheets.
- I have learnt how to use a large amount of specific software too, including: Adobe
Reader Pro, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop and ImageJ for image analysis, SPSS,
EndNote, Corel Video Studio Pro X5 and Sigmaplot, among others.

While I have had a wonderful experience in the Neurobiology of hearing field, I am

looking for an opportunity to take on more experience and expand my skill set in the
field. I look forward to further discussing this opportunity at your convenience.

Sincerely,

Raquel Martinez-Vega