What are the responsibilities and job description for the Science Research Specialist position at Connecticut Innovations?
Are you ready to join Connecticut Innovation’s vibrant community of innovators? Connecticut Innovations (“CI”) is Connecticut’s strategic venture capital arm, and we are passionate about serving our portfolio of 220 companies across various industries, with strengths in life sciences, technology, and climate tech.
Come join Putting Cancer's Secrets in Plain Sight - Normunity as a Senior Research Scientist!
Normunity, Inc.
Normunity is a venture-backed biotechnology company focused on immune-oncology, using antibodies to stimulate the immune response to specific therapeutic targets. The Company is based on research by Lieping Chen, Professor of Cancer Research and Immunobiology at Yale University and member of National Academy of Sciences. Professor Chen pioneered work on PD-1/PD-L1 and was a founder of Nextcure, a public biotechnology company. The Company will have offices and labs in New Haven, CT.
This position is an excellent opportunity for a talented candidate to work on groundbreaking science while also getting in on the ground floor of a high growth biotechnology company.
Senior Research Scientist – Immuno-Oncology Experimental Animal Model Scientist
We are looking for a highly motivated and dedicated candidate for a full-time Research Scientist position. The candidate will have an opportunity to play an integral role in advancing our early therapeutic candidates into the clinic by employing state-of-the-art immuno-oncology and cancer biology techniques to experimental animal models.
Strong knowledge of hypothesis-generating, proof of concept and confirmatory small animal models is required. Candidate will design and execute animal models as well as supervise outsourced specialized animal model designs to provide evidence of a drug's potential clinical utility. Prior experience with support and execution of IND submission process a plus. Ability to perform laboratory techniques in molecular biology, protein chemistry and immunology are also required.
Specific Responsibilities Include (but not limited to):
- Design and perform in vitro and ex vivo immunology-focused assays to assess the functional activity of candidate immuno-oncology therapeutics.
- Interrogate the function of myeloid cell populations in vivo, particularly in the context of the tumor microenvironment.
- Routinely used techniques include isolation of cells from primary human or mouse samples, leukocyte immunophenotyping by multi-parameter flow cytometry, designing functional immune cell-based assays evaluating various aspects of immune cell behavior (phagocytosis, ADCC, ADCP, cytokine production), as well as transcriptional or signaling changes
- Design and implement in vivo immune competent and immuno-incompetent models using syngeneicor CDX cell lines where appropriate.
- Organizing and analyzing results, troubleshooting assays/models, communicating and presenting findings in team meetings, and contributing to scientific publications
- Troubleshooting and optimizing results through surveying the literature, data interpretation, identification of novel or alternative procedures and techniques, and timely execution of experiments
Qualifications
- PhD degree in Immunology, Cancer Biology, or a related field, with 5 years of relevant experience in an industrial or academic lab setting.
- Deep knowledge of immuno-oncology and tumor biology animal models
- Ability to design, develop, and execute research activities in a timely manner.
- Strong communication skills, and proven ability to collaborate in a team setting.
- Ability to multi-task in a fast-paced, dynamic environment while delivering high quality work.
- Experience with cell culture and animal model techniques, including cell line growth and specimen isolation from mouse tissue samples.
- Experience with immunological techniques (e.g., ELISA, flow cytometry) and with immune cell based functional assays
Normunity is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
