Senior Scientist, Cell Therapy

AstraZeneca • Gaithersburg, MD

14h

About The Position

We are seeking a highly-motivated and independent Senior Scientist with demonstrated experience in Cellular Therapy, Immunology, and/ or Immuno-Oncology to join our rapidly growing Cell Therapy Team. In this role you will make use of your in vivo and/ or in vitro experience in T cell immunology to contribute to the advancement of innovative Cell Therapy products by designing and conducting laboratory experiments, developing methodology, and generating and interpreting scientific data in a highly collaborative environment.

Requirements

• PhD in a relevant discipline with 0-3 years of demonstrated experience in Cellular Therapy, Immunology, and/ or Immuno-Oncology
• Extensive in vivo skillset including animal handling, mouse tumour models, standard routes of dosing and engraftment, and tissue processing
• Experience with humanized mouse models and in vivo model development
• In vitro skillset with a well-developed understanding of molecular and cellular biology, immunological assays, cell transfection/ transduction, and advanced cell culture techniques
• Ability to design, execute, and troubleshoot experiments, and to review, analyze, and interpret results

Nice To Haves

• Experience with genome editing technologies (CRISPR/ Cas9, base-editing, transposons, etc.)
• Multicolour flow cytometry expertise
• Basic experience developing cellular therapies including CAR-T/ CAR-NK, TCR-T, and/ or TIL therapies
• Experience with in vivo CAR-T therapies
• Experience working with human and/ or cyno T cells
• Experience with metabolic assays, such as nutrient uptake and Seahorse metabolic flux assays
• Computational biology experience and proficiency in Python and/or R, prior experience in UNIX-based systems, high-performance computing (e.g. SLURM), and large-scale data management
• Expertise in -omics technologies and data science (such as generating and analyzing single cell RNAseq and ATACseq datasets)
• Familiarity and experience with AI predictive modelling tools and statistical methods applied to training of machine learning models
• Background in drug discovery and development in the pharmaceutical industry

Responsibilities

• Conducts hands-on in vivo research including design, implementation, and interpretation of studies
• Conducts routine drug discovery research experiments by applying the techniques of molecular and cellular biology, analyzes and interprets data, and communicates results to team members
• Supports a team and works collaboratively with project managers to ensure the efficient relay of information and forward translation of data
• Assesses and reports data, with little or no guidance, in a clear and concise manner, while developing an understanding of its implications within the overall context of drug discovery
• Provides technical instruction to the team and allocates administrative work where possible
• Communicates and shares information between distinct projects within the bioscience function and across other functions as required
• Ensures own work, and work of peers, is compliant with Safety, Health and Environment standards and all other relevant internal AstraZeneca standards and external regulations

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree