Scientist/Sr. Scientist - RNA Therapeutic Discovery and Preclinical Development (Molecular Biologist/Protein Biochemist)
The Company
Tacit Therapeutics is a Series A stage startup located in Brisbane. At Tacit Therapeutics, we're inspired by the intricacies of gene expression and repurpose enzymes already present in human cells to repair RNA to safely cure genetic diseases.
Our team is composed of scientists and entrepreneurs whose experience includes building therapeutic technology platforms, running clinical trials, and raising tens of millions of dollars in venture capital funding. We are building multiple therapeutic programs by combining principles in synthetic biology and RNA biology while utilizing automation, pooled and arrayed screening, and a variety of cellular and in vivo models of human disease.
If you're thrilled by the prospect of combining new technology and RNA biology to build treatments for devastating illnesses, consider this position. Working at an early‐stage company, you'll have the opportunity to make foundational contributions to human therapeutics. Our success as an organization is synonymous with your advancement––let's get building!
The Role
Scientist/Sr. Scientist - RNA Therapeutic Discovery and Preclinical Development
Our platform can be used, in principle, to address any mutation at the RNA level, and we are concurrently pursuing programs to treat multiple genetic diseases. Members of the Tacit Therapeutics Team are thus flexible and agile, often leading discovery and preclinical development projects across a variety of cellular and in vivo models of human disease.
This role requires a strong foundation in RNA biology with hands‐on experience in techniques such as quantitative RNA and protein assays, culturing of iPSC‐derived disease models, and synthetic biology–driven assay and construct design. These approaches will be used to enable data‐driven identification and optimization of therapeutic candidates.
Success in this position will involve developing intuition for both rational design and critical assessment of novel RNA editing therapeutics. You will build assays and make design decisions that will directly inform pre‐clinical studies and filings with the FDA in pursuit of clinical development. An interest in molecular disease mechanisms and in the fundamental application of molecular and synthetic biology is important for this role.
How You Will Contribute
In this role you will develop an in‐depth understanding of our therapeutic technology and screening platform. You will collaborate on projects that range from early‐stage work onboarding new disease targets to later stage assay development for pre‐clinical development candidates.
You will be responsible for engaging with team members across multiple scientific disciplines and leading efforts to expand our platform capabilities by designing robust quantitative assays for therapeutic evaluation. These assays will require the culturing and handling of both immortalized cells and differentiated neural disease models as well as the processing and handling of tissue samples. Therapeutic assessment will often require use of adeno‐associated virus (AAV).
This is a highly collaborative position in which you will coordinate execution of strategy by integrating across the many disciplines represented within the company. You will also participate in the design and coordination of preclinical animal studies through external CROs, making strong communication and organizational skills essential.
Who you are:
* Someone who thrives in a fast‐paced environment where new hypotheses and tools are rapidly integrated into our workflows
* Able to task switch and contribute to the Tacit Therapeutics platform across both early discovery and pre‐clinical development
* Intellectually flexible and eager to learn
* Enjoy working in a tight‐knit and focused team
* Thoughtful & detail‐oriented
* Excellent interpersonal communication and team‐oriented mindset
All members of our team are:
* Intellectually flexible and able to integrate information from diverse sources
* Able to distill ideas into experiments that will provide clear results and actionable information
* Thoughtful & detail oriented
* Decisive and carry responsibility for unique branches of the platform
* Stimulated by work at the intersection of multiple fields
* Have an innate drive to uncover, own, and address scientific problems
* Generous with their time and contributions to routine tasks for the benefit of the team
Responsibilities:
* Develop specialized therapeutic evaluation assays using quantitative assessments of RNA, protein, or target specific activity levels in in vitro and in vivo disease models
* Utilize disease relevant cell types and delivery mechanisms to assess therapeutic activity including AAV
* Draw from molecular biology expertise to design and evaluate novel therapeutics
* Contribute broadly to all aspects of the Tacit Therapeutics discovery platform from early discovery to pre‐clinical refinement for multiple disease targets
* Participate in the design and oversight of animal studies executed through CROs
* Collaborate with a diverse team of wet lab and computational scientists
* Utilize automation, arrayed and pooled screening techniques, and other tools to conduct screen tens of thousands of potential RNA repair therapeutics
* PhD in biology, biochemistry, biomedical engineering, or a related field
* Strong track record leading cross‐functional projects
* 5+ years in molecular biology
* 5+ years hands‐on wet lab experience
Preferred qualifications
* Expert level knowledge in RNA processing
* Experience with pre‐clinical modeling for gene therapy, in particular culture, differentiation, and phenotyping of stem cell‐derived neurons
* Mentoring and managing experience
Application process
Please include a cover letter and CV with your application.
We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.
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