Senior Associate Scientist In vitro Biology Neuroscience Discovery Full-time NEW

Senior Associate Scientist – In vitro Biology, Neuroscience Discovery

The Neuroscience TRC is committed to discovering and developing new therapies for patients with neurodegenerative and neuromuscular diseases. Our research combines human disease biology, molecular and cellular neuroscience, and target validation to identify and advance promising therapeutic opportunities.

We are seeking a creative and rigorous scientist to investigate novel therapeutic targets and build confidence in their relevance to neurodegenerative disease. The successful candidate will develop and apply disease-relevant assays and advanced human iPSC-based models to understand how genetic or pharmacologic target modulation influences disease biology.

This role is ideal for a scientist with strong molecular and cellular biology expertise, a passion for understanding disease mechanisms, and experience translating biological questions into meaningful therapeutic hypothesis. The ideal candidate will have experience developing disease-relevant cellular assays and applying advanced human iPSC-based models to investigate target biology. Experience with microglia, neuroimmune biology, or multicellular CNS models is highly desirable.

Position Responsibilities

• Design and execute hypothesis-driven studies to investigate novel therapeutic targets in neurodegenerative disease.
• Develop and apply advanced human iPSC-based models and disease-relevant assays to evaluate target biology and therapeutic potential.
• Design, optimize, and implement mechanistic and translational assays that enable target interrogation, in vitro pharmacological characterization, compound profiling, and progression of drug-discovery programs.
• Establish causal relationships between target modulation and disease-relevant mechanisms using genetic, pharmacological, and molecular approaches.
• Support structure-activity relationship (SAR) efforts by generating high-quality in vitro pharmacology data that inform compound optimization, mechanism-of-action studies, and program progression.
• Represent Discovery Biology on cross-functional program teams, presenting experimental results and biological interpretation to support program progression.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree with 4+ years of academic and/or industry experience or
• Master's degree with 2+ years of academic and/or industry experience

Preferred Qualifications

• Degree in neuroscience, biology, molecular biology, cell biology, or a related discipline.
• Strong foundation in molecular and cellular biology, with experience designing and executing experiments to address biological questions.
• Experience developing and applying cellular assays for target validation, pharmacological characterization, and/or compound profiling.
• Hands-on experience with human iPSC-derived neural and/or glial models and their application to neurodegenerative disease research.
• Demonstrated ability to independently drive experiments from conception through data interpretation and clearly present scientific findings within multidisciplinary teams
• Additional Preferred Qualifications and Experience
• Strong understanding of neurodegenerative disease biology, including pathways related to mitochondrial function, neuroinflammation, lipid and lysosomal biology, and protein homeostasis.
• Experience developing and applying robust cellular assays for target validation, pharmacological characterization, or compound profiling.
• Experience with disease-relevant cellular models and phenotypic endpoints applicable to neurodegenerative disease.
• Industry experience supporting target validation, in vitro pharmacology, or drug-discovery programs is beneficial.

We hire for skills and capabilities, not just credentials – if this role excites you, but doesn't perfectly match your resume, we encourage you to apply anyway.