Staff Scientist – Discovery Biology

The Therapeutic Innovation Center is seeking a talented discovery cell biologist to work in an interdisciplinary team environment on early therapeutic and drug discovery projects. As the center’s key focus is on diseases in which RNA is dysregulated, with an emphasis in cancer, this position will involve the utilization of functional genomic and/or chemical genetic approaches to identify therapeutic targets and characterize the consequences of target perturbation. This position will also include the development of high-throughput in-cell assays to monitor target function.  The Staff Scientist will be expected to work closely with the existing multidisciplinary teams and communicate progress and needs.

Job Duties

• Plan, direct and execute experimental protocols to perturb (RNAi, CRISPR, over-expression, etc) gene of interest function in a variety of cell lines.
• Develop and validate cellular assays to characterize the phenotypic and molecular consequences of gene of interest perturbation.
• Evaluate, analyze and present data associated with experiments.
• Independently propose innovative solutions to projects. Stay up to date on technical advances, methodologies, and evaluates opportunities to utilize new technologies required for specific research projects.
• May conduct literature searches and summarize information in an appropriate format for a particular study.
• May train, supervise, schedule and coordinate the activities of less experienced research staff.
• Work with PIs to design and implement a genetic/chemical-genetic platform enabling drug discovery.
• Work in collaboration with the PIs and computational biology team to evaluate and analyze internal and external genomic data sets to test hypotheses.
• Clearly document and communicate (oral and written) experimental results and progress to PIs and/or external collaborators.
• Maintain a collaborative, collegial and respectful team environment.

Minimum Qualifications

• Doctoral Degree. Experience may not be substituted in lieu of degree.
• Three years of post doctoral research experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Industry experience
• Expertise in mammalian cell culture and genetic perturbation techniques
• Experience with development of high-throughput in-cell assays to monitor target function
• Demonstrated expertise in leading discovery or translational biology projects including first authored manuscripts or significant industry experience
• Competency in multiple key cell & molecular biology areas including RNAi, CRISPR-mediated editing approaches, lentiviral/retroviral production, transfection/electroporation, flow cytometry, immunofluorescence, DNA/RNA/protein extraction, western blot, qPCR, nanostring and standard subcloning

Baylor College of Medicine is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/Equal Access Employer.