Full-Time
Research Assistant
Phage & Bacterial R&D
Tabula
Develops ML-guided, programmable antimicrobials
Compensation Overview
$25 - $37/hr
Madison, WI, USA
In Person
Master's
 Biology & Biotech (1) |
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- The candidate must have 1–3 years of relevant laboratory experience, ideally in a biotechnology or industry setting; highly hands-on academic experience is also considered.
- The candidate must demonstrate competency with the listed core laboratory responsibilities.
- The candidate must have strong attention to detail and excellent contamination-control habits.
- The candidate must be able to work on-site in a BSL-2 laboratory and complete required safety training.
- The candidate must be comfortable with physical laboratory work, including lifting up to 35 lbs.
- The candidate must communicate clearly, work reliably, and follow written standard operating procedures and protocols.
- Perform routine molecular biology workflows, including polymerase chain reaction, agarose gels, basic molecular cloning, and DNA/RNA handling.
- Conduct bacterial culture work with BSL-2 gram-negative organisms, including picking colonies, streaking, culturing, preparing samples, and maintaining strain stocks.
- Execute phage assays, including plaque assays and spot assays, as well as related host-range, EOP-style readout, and quantitation workflows.
- Run growth curves and plate-based assays, including work in 96-well formats and use of a plate reader.
- Prepare media, agar plates, and stock solutions, and support general laboratory readiness through reagent mixing, labeling, and sterile technique.
- Support next-generation sequencing-related sample preparation tasks, including nucleic acid extraction and handling, sample quality control, and assigned sequencing preparation steps.
- Maintain detailed documentation in a research and development environment through laboratory notebooking.
- Phage experience, including plaque assays, spot assays, phage handling, and quantitation.
- Experience with Escherichia coli, Klebsiella, Pseudomonas, or other gram-negative pathogens in BSL-2 settings.
- Experience with nucleic acid extraction and next-generation sequencing sample preparation workflows.
- Familiarity with Benchling or similar electronic laboratory notebook systems.
- A Master of Science degree.
Tabula Bioscience uses machine learning to improve disease prediction and personalized medicine. Its core product aims to design programmable, strain-specific antimicrobials that target bacteria via bacteriophages, with R&D focused on phage therapy and gram-negative bacteria. The models leverage unlabeled genomic data from humans and other species, incorporate expert priors and epigenetic information, and use probabilistic programming to build mechanistic biological explanations. The goal is to narrow the gap between heritability and prediction to enable more effective, individualized treatments.
Company Size
N/A
Company Stage
N/A
Total Funding
N/A
Headquarters
N/A
Founded
N/A
Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Tabula’s 2026 site says it treats real patients six months after founding.
- May 2026 job postings show active phage and gram-negative R&D execution.
- Its focus on antibiotic-resistant infections targets a large, urgent clinical need.
What critics are saying
- No public financing beyond a 2022 $2 million seed limits runway.
- The 2026 hiring push in Madison signals heavy lab burn before product revenue.
- Bacteriophage therapeutics face FDA, manufacturing, and resistance hurdles that can kill the company.
What makes Tabula unique
- Tabula’s 2026 site says it builds algorithms, not drugs, for infectious disease.
- The company combines ML, wet-lab validation, and in-house phage experimentation.
- Founders Ammon Bartram and Michael Poon attract elite backers like Seibel and Shear.
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Benefits
Health Insurance
Dental Insurance
Vision Insurance
Life Insurance
Paid Vacation
401(k) Company Match