Senior Research Associate, Cell Engineering

JOB PURPOSE

The Senior Research Associate will be responsible for creating Sana cell therapeutics. The individual will utilize the latest cell engineering methods to create desired cell types by targeted genetic alteration. The candidate will collaborate with research program teams and functional groups throughout the company to design and engineer cells to meet project needs. This work will require experience in cell culture, gene editing, molecular biology and excellent collaboration and communication skills.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Cell culture/engineering
• Design and implement strategies to produce engineered cells through standard techniques including gene editing, homology directed repair (HDR), viral transgenesis and clonal cell expansion
• Order reagents required for engineering and culture
• Analysis
• Utilize standard genomic and functional readouts to confirm engineering of desired cell lines including amplicon sequencing, western-blotting, ELISA, flow-cytometry, imaging
• Automation
• Utilize automated liquid-handling and imaging to aid in the culturing and tracking of clonal cell cultures as well as molecular biology workflows
• Collaboration
• Work closely with team members to understand desired parameters for cell engineering projects
• Work closely with other scientists and automation engineers to coordinate cell engineering efforts and complete projects on schedule
• Organization
• Maintain excellent electronic lab notebook records of protocols and experimental details
• Participate in team meetings and provide regular oral and written communication on all projects and milestones to relevant project team

QUALIFICATIONS

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in biology, cell biology, biochemistry, biotechnology or related plus 4 years or master's degree with 1-2 years or equivalent combination of education and work experience in the biotech/pharmaceutical industry
• Extensive cell culture experience
• Experience modifying cellular genomes with CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing or equivalent and lentiviral transduction to introduce target payloads
• Experience with molecular biology including PCR, RT-qPCR, restriction digest/ligation, Gibson/Golden Gate assembly, plasmid prep, SPRI cleanup
• Experience evaluating genomic modification by sequencing and analysis (ex: Sanger sequencing and ICE analysis)
• Must be detail oriented, self-motivated, flexible and able to contribute to several fast-paced projects concurrently
• Outstanding verbal and written communication skills

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience engineering novel functions into pluripotent cells
• Experience working with pluripotent cells (iPSC and ESCs) and differentiation of cells into various lineages
• Experience with Zinc Finger Nucleases, TALENS, Transposases
• Experience with western-blotting, flow-cytometry, ELISA, imaging
• Experience with automated liquid handling or high-content imaging instruments
• Experience with NGS library preparation and sequencing