Technology has transformed almost every single aspect of our lives. Yet, it still takes 12 years to develop a drug. Today thousands of diseases affecting hundreds of millions of people have no effective treatment. Accelerating the pace of bringing effective, new medicines to patients is one of the greatest opportunities for humanity. Our mission is to develop better drugs, faster using technology. We have built an end-to-end technology-driven drug discovery platform centered around one of the field’s largest human genomics databases in neuroscience. We use aspects of machine learning to map the complex causes of disease and turn those insights into promising drug candidates on our internal biology and chemistry platforms.

We are developing drugs to treat some of the biggest medical challenges today: ALS, Parkinson’s Disease, and Alzheimer’s Disease. Our first drug entered the clinic in October 2022 as a new treatment for ALS and was discovered entirely from our platform. We have raised $134M from top tier investors (e.g. BlackRock, Eli Lilly, Merck, Section 32, Threshold Ventures, Y Combinator, etc) and in 2021 we announced a $706M deal with Eli Lilly. We are a team of data scientists, neuroscientists, and drug developers united around an audacious vision: to build the next Genentech of the digital age.

Who You Are

The Target Validation and Exploratory Biology department is seeking a creative and driven research associate to develop state-of-the-art in vitro models representing neurodegenerative disorders using stem cell technology, organoids, 3D co-cultures and microfluidics.

With your expertise in genome and stem cell engineering technologies, you will generate different brain cell-types and introduce disease mutations, pathway reporters, and drug target constructs. The candidate will profile quality, functionality and disease relevance of the in vitro brain models through imaging, single cell RNAseq, spatial transcriptomics, proteomics etc. You will benchmark the in vitro models by validating targets identified by Verge Genomics computational platform. This position plays a central role in the Verge Genomics pipeline, intersecting with target validation and drug discovery groups in advancing our pipeline of small molecules and biologics.

What You'll Do...

Establish quality-controlled patient iPSC and fibroblast banks
Differentiate neurons and other brain cell types from human stem cells
Develop brain disease models suitable for investigating target biology and drug discovery in neurodegenerative disorders
Execute cell-based, biochemical, and molecular biology assays to validate cell and disease models
Engineer disease mutations, cell-type and pathway reporters in cells using genomic technologies
Support target validation activities
Write detailed research project plans and SOPs
Analyze data using relevant statistical methods
Present results in team and company meetings

You'll Have....

A BS + 2-5 years or MS + 0- 3 years degree, preferably in neuroscience or cell-molecular biology, or a related scientific discipline
Expertise in generation, characterization and quality control of iPSC and fibroblasts from patients
Differentiation into neurons or other cell-types such as astrocytes or microglia is required
Experience with cell-based assay development and molecular biology techniques such as RNA isolation, qPCR, and Western blots is required
Experience with immunofluorescence microscopy and immunocytochemistry is required
Image analysis a plus
Expertise in genomic technologies (RNAi, CRISPR) and drug testing is a plus
Experience with engineering brain models such as human 3D co-cultures, organoids, microfluidic devices, or bioengineered tissues is a plus
Experience with data analysis using GraphPad Prism, SPSS, SAS, and Excel, and a general knowledge of statistical analysis
Documentation of experiments using electronic lab notebooks
Excellent communication skills and excitement for collaboration in cross-functional group settings

Compensation & Benefits at Verge Genomics:

Our target starting salary for successful US-based applicants for this role is $69,500 to $78,000. To determine starting pay, we consider multiple job-related factors including a candidate’s skills, education and experience, the level at which they are actually hired, market demand, business needs, and internal parity. We may also adjust this range in the future based on market data.

This role is eligible for participation in our Annual Performance Bonus Plan (based on company targets by role level and annual company performance) and all employees are offered Equity, subject to the terms of those plans and associated policies.

In addition, Verge Genomics also provides our employees:

*Excellent medical, dental, and vision coverage

*401(k) plan with employer matching for contributions

*Disability insurance, Life insurance, Dependant Care FSA and Healthcare FSA

*Unlimited paid time off

*Paid parental leave

*Access to free onsite fitness center

*Free snacks and lunch for employees who work onsite

*WFH stipend for employees who work remotely

Help us revolutionize the way drugs are discovered & developed:

The startup nature of Verge Genomics provides multiple growth opportunities into other areas of the company. As one of the early employees at Verge, your work will have a direct impact on the foundation of a groundbreaking new drug development model.

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