Senior Research Associate

Senior Research Associate Immunobiology

Who We Are

EvolveImmune Therapeutics is a next-generation, development-stage immune-oncology company which is developing novel trispecific T cell engagers with integrated CD2 costimulation to optimize anti-tumor immunity to overcome the therapeutic challenges of cancer cell resistance. Our lead program based on our EVOLVE therapeutic platform will enter the clinic in 2025. We conduct our R&D, including internal protein engineering and biotherapeutics discovery, immunobiology, and translational sciences, at our dedicated, state-of-the-art laboratories located in Branford, CT.

The Role

EvolveImmune seeks a talented and motivated Senior Research Associate to join our Immunobiology Research Group at our Branford, CT, facility. The ideal candidate has a strong positive attitude and is willing to learn general laboratory skills.

This individual will work directly with the Immunobiology project team to evaluate novel cancer immunotherapies designed to orchestrate adaptive immunity through optimal T cell activation at tumor sites. This includes helping to prepare materials and reagents for experiments, assisting with primary lymphocyte isolation, evaluating the potential novel immunotherapies to prevent or reverse T cell exhaustion in ex vivo assays, and establishing immune cell cancer cell co-cultures assays for ex vivo evaluation of novel antibody-based immunotherapies. Experience in establishing dissociated tumor cell cultures is desired but not necessary. This individual will also help prioritize and qualify materials of in vivo studies by expanding cancer cell cultures and preparing immune cell materials to evaluate surrogate and experimental immunotherapies in humanized mouse cancer models. Experience in multiple-parameter flow cytometry is required for this role.

Accurate data recording, strong attention to detail, and the ability to follow standard procedures are critical for success in this role.

We are looking for candidates who enjoy working in a team and can leverage the growth opportunities that a matrixed environment provides. This is an exceptional opportunity for someone excited about drug discovery and development and driven to translate our discoveries into novel therapeutics.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with team members across different functional teams
• Maintain tissue cultured cancer cell lines
• Immune cell isolation human PBMCs preparation
• Specific human immune cell isolation
• Execution of immune cell activation assays
• Acquisition of cellular assay measurements that include cell toxicity, protein, and cytokine measurements by Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), Meso-Scale Device, Luminex, and cell surface marker assessment by immunofluorescent antibody staining and flow cytometry.
• Perform image-based acquisition and analysis of cellular assays
• characterizing tumor microenvironment (TME) and establishing related assays (dissociated tumor cell assays, spheroid or organoid cultures)
• Keep detailed records of experiments in electronic notebooks, analyze data, and prepare and deliver presentations to research team members.

Qualifications

• MS degree in biology or a related field with at least 3 years of laboratory experience in the biotech/pharmaceutical industry or an academic institution. Or B.S./B.A. degree in biology or a related field with at least 5 years of laboratory experience in the biotech/pharmaceutical industry or in an academic institution.
• The candidate should have general laboratory experience, with a preference for candidates with experience in cancer biology and cellular immunology.
• Experience with immunology and molecular methods (e.g., multicolor FACS to phenotype diverse populations including stromal cells and leukocytes; immune cell polarization methods; PBMC and purified primary immune cell functional assays; proteomic analysis using multiplex assay such as MSD, Luminex, O-link; mRNA analysis by qPCR)
• Experience characterizing tumor microenvironment (TME) and establishing related assays (dissociated tumor cell assays, spheroid, or organoid cultures) is a plus.
• Ability to independently design and execute research plans for one or more programs and to rapidly review, analyze, and interpret experimental results.
• Prior experience in performing in vitro pharmacology experiments with biologics is a plus.
• Data analysis experience with GraphPad Prism and general knowledge of routine statistical analysis is also preferred. Both good oral and written communication skills are required.

This role is a full-time, in-person position in EvolveImmune's laboratories in Branford, CT.

EvolveImmune Therapeutics requires all employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

EvolveImmune Therapeutics is an equal-opportunity employer.