Senior Scientist, Translational Medicine

Who We Are

Calico (Calico Life Sciences LLC) is an Alphabet-founded research and development company whose mission is to harness advanced technologies and model systems to increase our understanding of the biology that controls human aging. Calico will use that knowledge to devise interventions that enable people to lead longer and healthier lives. Calico’s highly innovative technology labs, its commitment to curiosity-driven discovery science, and, with academic and industry partners, its vibrant drug-development pipeline, together create an inspiring and exciting place to catalyze and enable medical breakthroughs.

Position Overview

Calico is seeking a highly skilled, self-motivated and talented Senior Scientist to lead and execute preclinical research and biomarker discovery within our Translational Medicine team. This role is crucial for advancing our portfolio by generating critical data for drug-discovery projects aimed at targeting human aging and age-related diseases.

The ideal candidate will bring extensive knowledge of a wide variety of in vivo and ex vivo research methodologies and will work closely with researchers from Translational Medicine, technology labs, and the Drug Development team, focusing on strategic planning, execution, and data generation for preclinical studies.

Key Responsibilities

• The successful candidate will dedicate at least 80% of their time to hands-on laboratory work, focusing on developing and implementing translational strategies aimed at addressing age-related diseases:
• Characterize molecular subsets of prioritized age-associated diseases through deep-phenotyping approaches
• Develop in vitro perturbation models that matches the patient segment of interest
• Establish in vivo disease models with the Translational Physiology team
• Examine causal biology relationships with tool compounds and genetic models
• Identify mechanism of action-reflective biomarkers to support disease-specific target validation efforts
• Establish and oversee sponsored research agreements with key opinion leaders in the aging area to identify novel target concepts
• Develop early translational strategies, including indication prioritization, patient enrichment/selection, and on- treatment pharmacodynamic biomarkers to be implemented by clinical teams
• Employ pre-clinical models to establish exposure, biomarker, efficacy relationshipsEvaluate and implement new technologies to improve the efficiency and quality of ex vivo studies
  
  

Position Requirements

• PhD or equivalent with 5 years of postdoctoral experience in academia or industry
• Technical expertise in in vivo (mouse models) and ex vivo in aging research or in age-related diseases
• Demonstrated ability to independently devise research plans and complete projects as evidenced by high impact publications or patents
• Ability to think creatively, leverage cutting-edge technologies to translate mechanistic insights to disease states
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Thrives in a collaborative environment and is driven by a desire to advancing aging research
• Experience with a range of therapeutic modalities, including small molecules, biotherapeutics, nucleic acid therapeutics and gene therapy
• Strong understanding of biological hallmarks of age-related diseases, such as inflammation, DNA repair, epigenetics, protein homeostasis, senescence and metabolism
• Experience with high-throughput sequencing and data analysis (R and Python)
• Willingness to work on-site five days a week
• Submission of a cover letter is required with your application
  
  

The estimated base salary range for this role is $163,000 - $172,000. Actual pay will be based on a number of factors including experience and qualifications. This position is also eligible for two annual cash bonuses