This individual should possess intense curiosity, enjoy solving complex problems, be relentless in the pursuit of scientific excellence, unafraid to think differently and "out of the box", be highly collaborative, and an excellent communicator. The Scientist I/II works within the Oncolytic Virus Discovery Team to advance the company's approach to engineering novel oncolytic virus products with applications in immuno-oncology. The Scientist I/II carries out research projects that support development of oncolytic virus platforms in accordance with the company's goals. The Scientist I/II position is lab-based and will share facilities and resources with the Cell Therapy Discovery team.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position.This list contains the major duties and requirements of the job and is not all-inclusive. Incumbent(s) may be expected to perform role-related duties other than those contained in this document.
Provide leadership in advancing oncolytic virus (OV) internal research and development programs and external collaborations from OV design and virus production through functional analyses
1. Coordinate team members to plan and execute experiments to achieve the company's goals for developing novel OV therapies
-Design of novel elements to enhance OV function and/or delivery
-Generation and characterization of novel OV product candidates
-Plan and perform cell based assays to evaluate new OV constructs, and other novel gene-edits, including in vitro analyses of infectivity, cytotoxicity, and immunomodulatory activity
-Coordinate in vivo experiments in appropriate murine models to evaluate efficacy and safety of novel OV product candidates
2. Coordinate with other scientists, research assistants and research associates to plan and execute collaborative experiments supporting OV research projects
3. Contribute to driving the scientific direction of the OV research group by attending conferences, studying related literature, and incorporating new concepts into experimental design
4. Report results to the OV team, upper management, external parties
-Share new data, file reports as needed, maintain updated electronic lab notebook records
-Assist in publishing, patenting or presenting data as needed
Assist in general operation of the Cell Culture facility
1.Coordinate with OV and Cell Therapy Teams to ensure:
-SOPs are written and updated for techniques and assays
-Equipment is properly maintained
-CO2 and LN2 tanks are filled when needed
-Shared resources are utilized appropriately between teams
-Consumables are ordered and stocked as needed
-Cells and other reagents are available for experiments as needed
Qualifications
The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required to perform this job successfully.
Education/Experience:
Required:
- PhD or MSc in virology, microbiology, immunology, cellular & molecular biology or equivalent combination of education and experience. PhD with a minimum of 3 years or MSc with a minimum of 5 years of related academic or industry experience and/or training preferred.
- Demonstrated expertise in the design and characterization of DNA viruses or have the background and skills to master it in a short period of time
- Experience with multiparameter flow cytometric analysis and accompanying data analysis software proficiency
Preferred:
-Previous experience in oncolytic virus therapy, cancer immunotherapy/immunology or cancer vaccines
- Experience and knowledge of molecular biology techniques, including: PCR, restriction digestion & cloning, primer design, plasmid isolation and analysis, bacterial transformation and screening, extraction of genomic DNA, DNA sequencing and analysis, and proficiency with accompanying data analysis software
- Experience/familiarity with Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) regulations and basic studies
- Experience in contributing to successfully filed Investigational New Drug (IND) applications
- Familiarity and experience with molecular cloning, virus culture, plaque assays, cell based assays of cytotoxicity
- Ability to prepare and present scientific concepts and data at in-person and virtual meetings
- Ability to read, analyze, and interpret common scientific journals. Ability to define problems, collect and analyze data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions. Should have knowledge of Microsoft Office software suite
- Ability to respond to common inquiries or complaints from customers, regulatory agencies, or
members of the business community
- Ability to apply advanced mathematical concepts such as exponents, logarithms, quadratic equations, and permutations
- Ability to apply mathematical operations to such tasks as frequency distribution, determination of test reliability and validity, analysis
Travel Requirements
This position requires little to no travel (5%).
Location
This is a lab-based position in South San Francisco.