Post Doctorate Fellow, Identifying cardiac disease pathways using pooled CRISPR screens in iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes

Role Summary

Post Doctorate Fellow to lead a project applying single-cell genomics and high-throughput pooled perturbation screens to identify novel therapeutic targets for heart failure. The role offers exposure to an industry environment and next-generation RNA medicines, working with internal teams and external partners to design, implement, and analyze pooled genetic screens in cardiac cells to assign phenotypes to genes and prioritize targets within biological pathways of interest.

Responsibilities

• Optimize lentiviral vector and targeted library design and delivery to cardiac cells.
• Perform targeted genetic perturbation screens in immortalized and iPSC-derived cardiac cells.
• Design and execute in vitro studies to validate newly identified targets in relevant models.
• Analyze and interpret highly dimensional datasets to pinpoint actionable targets and pathways driving cardiomyocyte dysfunction in heart failure.
• Document experimental results and communicate findings through internal presentations, manuscripts for scientific publications, and external conferences.
• Collaborate with computational biologists, geneticists, and cardiovascular physiologists to dissect disease-relevant gene networks and identify novel therapeutic targets for heart failure.
• Demonstrate professionalism and uphold the company‚Äôs culture and collaborative working norms.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in RNA biology, genetics, molecular biology, bioengineering, or closely related field with 0‚Äì3 years of experience.
• Experience with CRISPR-Cas9 perturbations, pooled screening, RNA/DNA sequencing, single-cell RNA-seq, and related bioinformatics tools.
• Cell culture experience including immortalized and iPSC-derived or primary cells.
• In vivo rodent disease model experience or willingness to learn.
• Familiarity with molecular techniques (plasmid design/cloning, RNA/DNA isolation, qPCR, NGS library construction).
• Excellent problem-solving skills and ability to design experiments independently.
• Ability to work effectively in a matrixed, multidisciplinary team.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills for publication and presentation.
• Experience with tools to analyze large datasets (e.g., scRNA-seq, transcriptomics, pooled CRISPR screens with R/Python) is a plus.
• Strong background in iPSC cardiomyocyte differentiation, culture optimization, phenotypic assays, or cardiovascular physiology is a plus.
• Full-time onsite at Carlsbad, CA is required.

Skills

• Single-cell genomics
• Pooled perturbation screening
• CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing
• Transcriptomics and data analysis (R/Python)
• Viral vector design
• Stem cell modelling of cardiovascular disease
• Communication and collaboration across disciplines

Education

• Ph.D. in RNA biology, genetics, molecular biology, bioengineering, or closely related field.

Additional Requirements

• Onsite work requirement at Carlsbad, CA.