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Senior Research Associate, Molecular Engineering (6-Month Contract)

Palo Alto, CA

About Arc Institute

Arc Institute is an independent nonprofit research organization at the interface of artificial intelligence and biology, working to accelerate scientific progress and understand the root causes of complex diseases. Founded in 2021 and based in Palo Alto, Arc partners with Stanford University, UC Berkeley, and UC San Francisco.

Unlike academia, our scientists have long-term funding and industry-like resources. Unlike industry, they're free to pursue high-risk, long-term research without commercial pressures. Arc's Technology Centers and Core Investigator labs work side by side, integrating experimental and computational biology under one roof to tackle problems neither could solve alone.

Our two Institute Initiatives reflect this model in action:

  • Virtual Cell Initiative: Building a full-stack virtual cell model to identify disease mechanisms and nominate drug targets,  accelerating the path from biological insight to clinical trials.
  • Alzheimer's Disease Initiative: Mapping the genes, pathways, and environmental factors behind Alzheimer's disease to develop drug candidates that address root causes.

More than 300 Arconauts work together at our Palo Alto headquarters, backed by substantial long-term philanthropic funding.

About the position

We are seeking a highly skilled and motivated Senior Research Associate to join the Molecular Engineering team within the Genome Engineering Technology Center at Arc for a fixed term of six months to support the execution of arrayed genetic perturbation screens in disease-relevant human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-derived cells. In this position, you will play a key role in our Molecular Engineering platform development efforts for end-to-end lentiviral gRNA delivery to differentiated cells by executing, evaluating, and optimizing protocols to efficiently deliver high levels of perturbations into cells that will be incorporated into 2D and 3D brain models by our collaborators in the Cellular Models Tech Center. Through this work, you will play a critical role in the Institute's Alzheimer's Disease Initiative, an ambitious cross-functional effort aimed at identifying and developing drugs for rational therapeutic targets to combat devastating neurodegenerative disorders.

The ideal candidate will have experience and proficient skills in stem cell culture and functional characterization of engineered cells, with expertise in implementing, running, and troubleshooting workflows with an outstanding attention to detail. This is an excellent opportunity for a highly motivated and curious researcher interested in helping translate genomic insights into therapeutic strategies by contributing to a pioneering platform that has the potential to transform our understanding and treatment of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders. 

About you 

  • You love science and learning. Whether it’s gaining knowledge in new fields of scientific research or learning a new lab technique, you never stop being curious and routinely enjoy stepping out of your comfort zone to learn new things. 
  • You are flexible and adaptable, eager to try new ways of tackling problems beyond the approaches with which you’re familiar while also bringing energy and curiosity to the optimization of existing approaches.
  • You have a creative and curious spirit, open and eager to try new ways of tackling problems beyond the approaches with which you’re familiar.
  • You can work fast and are detail-oriented. You are careful and diligent about good documentation practices and keeping things organized while moving at a rapid pace.
  • You show initiative and can effectively work independently while also adapting well to situations where collaboration and communication with other RAs / Scientists will bring the best results.
  • You are comfortable carrying out the routine execution of tasks while identifying opportunities to troubleshoot and improve bottlenecks.
  • Your organizational skills enable you to manage multiple concurrent projects, and your curiosity and creativity drive you to continuous learning and innovation.

In this position you will

  • Execute routine stem cell culture and differentiation protocols.
  • Conduct and optimize lentiviral transduction-based experiments to introduce arrayed genetic perturbations into engineered cell lines.
  • Leverage in vitro cell-based assays (flow cytometry, imaging, immunostaining, etc.) and molecular biology techniques to characterize the functional activity of genetic perturbed cells.
  • Support the cross-functional execution of arrayed genetic perturbation screens for the Alzheimer’s Disease Initiative at Arc.
  • Have a systematic approach to the execution of tasks and experiments with a focus on efficiency and reproducibility.
  • Maintain careful records in ELN (electronic lab notebook) and organize materials and reagents with detailed tracking in our LIMS system.
  • Troubleshoot and identify opportunities to improve existing protocols and platform capabilities. 
  • Analyze and present data and at internal meetings and seminars.

Requirements

  • BS/MS or equivalent professional experience in Biology, Biotechnology, Genetics, Cellular Biology, or relevant fields.
  • With a BS degree, 4+ years of relevant experience or with a MS degree, 0-2+ years of relevant postgraduate experience. Industry experience is desirable but not required.
  • Relevant lab experience including demonstrated and proficient skills for stem cell and progenitor cell culturing and routine characterization. 
  • Familiarity with CRISPR-Cas9 or other genome editing or genetic perturbation techniques, with hands-on experience functionally characterizing genetically modified cells. 
  • Experience running and analyzing flow cytometry experiments, including familiarity with running multi-color panels, immunostaining experiments, and FlowJo analyses. 
  • Detail-oriented with excellent organizational and time management skills.
  • Strong oral and written communication skills. 
  • Ability to multitask, willingness to learn, and work in a highly collaborative environment.

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Proficiency and experience with molecular cloning, virus production, and cell line engineering. 
  • Experience with LIMS systems, ideally Benchling.
  • Experience analyzing large data sets preferably using data scripting tools such as Python or R.

The base monthly rate range for this position is $7,290 - $9,520. These amounts reflect the range that the Institute reasonably would expect to pay a new hire or internal candidate for this position. The actual compensation paid to any individual for this position may vary depending on factors such as experience, market conditions, education/training, skill level, and whether the compensation is internally equitable, and does not include bonuses, commissions, differential pay, other forms of compensation, or benefits.

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