About us:
Abata has a big vision focused on translating the biology of regulatory T cells (Tregs) into transformational medicines for patients, particularly in severe autoimmune and inflammatory diseases with inadequate or no therapeutic options. While cell therapies represent a significant advancement in treating human disease, they have not yet been rigorously evaluated and developed for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. The company believes that by engineering Tregs for targeted activation only at the site of disease, enabling a robust, durable response, while avoiding systemic immune suppression, they can revolutionize the treatment of these challenging chronic diseases.
Our work is transformative which is why we hire the best, brightest, and most importantly…kind people. Being kind is not just a personality trait we look for, it’s a core value, embedded in the way we work and how we shape your experience at Abata Therapeutics. One of the most important aspects of your experience at Abata is how you develop and grow with the company. Our culture of learning and growth enables everyone to do their best work and contribute to fulfilling our mission.
The Role:
As a key member of Molecular Sciences group at Abata Therapeutics, you will support our cross-functional teams with your profound knowledge of lentiviral vector and library generation. A detailed molecular characterization of these vectors, libraries and transduced cells will be performed in order to help advance our programs. Possible research efforts may include gene sequence confirmation, bulk and single-cell gene expression profiles, epigenetic markers or phenotypic signatures of gene-engineered cells. The latter one may include gene engineering technologies, such as CRISPR/Cas9.
The successful candidate will be reporting to the Head of Molecular Sciences. As a member of a very engaged team, you will help us to develop novel therapies to treat autoimmune diseases. In your role as an expert of lentiviral vectors and molecular biology at Abata, you will build and establish in-house screening capabilities, as well as develop strategies for out-sourcing our methods to CRO.
Major Responsibilities:
- Design, cloning and production of lentiviral vectors and libraries for screening of immune receptors in T Cells
- These vectors may express T Cell Receptor (TCR) genes, protein co-factors or reagents for genome engineering (e.g. CRISPR/Cas9)
- Ownership of the process from digital data analysis to sequence assembly, library generation, QC and sequencing with the help of our NGS core team
- Mentoring and coordination of research associates as direct reports
- Collaboration with research teams from Bioinformatics, Immunology, Discovery, Translational Sciences and Technical Operations
- Contribution to immune receptor screening and characterization
- Select and apply the best protocols to consistently generate high quality vectors for the purpose
- Design and execute experiments to determine cellular phenotypes after viral transduction of human primary cells (e.g. expression levels, mRNA splice variants, phenotypic changes)
- Cooperation with CROs to outsource protocols where practical; troubleshoot technical issues to ensure high quality results
- Analyze and report experimental results verbally and in writing
Requirements and Qualifications:
- Education in biochemistry/molecular biology or related discipline
- Biotech / pharma experience of > 1-3 years with a PhD or 4-5 years with a MS
- Proven track record in hands-on lentiviral vector production and application of modern Molecular Biology technologies
- Experience with genome engineering (e.g. CRISPR/Cas9, ZFN) and DNA assembly methods (e.g. Gibson, Golden Gate)
- Hands-on expertise with a variety of current molecular biology and cell culture procedures (DNA cloning, synthetic biology, NGS, RNA, gene editing, Flow Cytometry)
- Experience with viral application in vivo and/or lab automation are a plus
We are an equal opportunity employer offering a competitive salary and benefits package. All applicants should be legally entitled to work for any employer in the US.
Note to Employment Agencies: Please do not forward any agency resumes. The company will not be responsible for any fees related to resumes that are unsolicited.
This is an on-site position based in the Watertown, MA office and the employee will be required to work in the office on a regular basis.
Abata Therapeutics will require compliance with our COVID- 19 vaccination policy. Please Review our conditions of employment.
Conditions of employment:
All current Abata employees have received the first two rounds of vaccinations against COVID-19. Vaccination status must be confirmed prior to any new hires joining the team. Up to date vaccination is strongly encouraged for every employee who intends to work onsite at our office and lab facility. Should an employee choose not to receive the vaccine, we will seek to understand the facts of their individual circumstance and determine if an appropriate work arrangement can be achieved.
