Research Associate / Senior Research Associate, Nucleic Acids

Job Description

Job Description

About Violet Research Institute

Violet Research Institute (VRI) is building the future of personalized medicine for patients with genetic diseases. We're at the frontier of a new era in medicine — one where treatments can be designed for individual patients based on their unique biology. Recent breakthroughs in science, engineering, and regulatory pathways have made this possible, but much of this work remains nascent and distributed across disparate efforts globally. We're unifying, refining, and scaling these efforts into a cohesive platform. For each patient we serve, we deeply understand their biology, then design and manufacture a targeted treatment that can be delivered in months instead of years.

We combine the urgency and execution mindset of a startup with the mission-driven openness of a nonprofit, allowing us to collaborate broadly and move quickly on behalf of the patients we serve. We've brought together leading researchers, engineers, and organizations across omics, therapeutic design, manufacturing, clinical care, and AI to move from insight to action as quickly as possible.

VRI is founded by the family of our first patient, Violet, and is led by Michael Buckley, Siranush Babakhanova and Steve Turner. Our team is deeply cross-disciplinary and first-principles driven. We value builders, experts, and generalists who are excited to work across domains, challenge conventional approaches, and increase access to personalized medicine.

What We're Looking For

We are hiring a hands-on Research Associate to Senior Research Associate to support molecular biology and assay development for an active therapeutic program. The primary work centers on nucleic acid purification and quantitative PCR (qPCR and digital droplet PCR) used to measure the knockdown efficiency of antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) against a disease-relevant target. The role also supports cell culture and stem cell differentiation work as needed.

This is an excellent set of hands with a strong track record for clean, reproducible bench work. It is a demanding, fast-paced environment with shifting priorities and frequent new asks, and it offers meaningful contribution to patient-directed science and broad exposure to a growing organization.

What You'll Own

• Extract and purify nucleic acids (RNA and DNA) from cell and tissue samples using standard kits (e.g., Qiagen) and established purification workflows.
• Process human specimens (blood or blood products, CSF, etc) and work safely in a BSC-2 environment.
• Design, run, and analyze qPCR assays on the Applied Biosystems QuantStudio 5 using TaqMan probes and master mix.
• Perform digital droplet PCR (ddPCR) on the Bio-Rad QX600 with the automated droplet generator.
• Quantify ASO knockdown efficiency against target transcripts and report results with clear, well-documented data.
• Maintain rigorous experimental records, assay QC, and data organization to support a rapidly iterating program.
• Contribute to assay scale-up, optimization, and process refinement as capabilities expand.
• Assist with laboratory upkeep such as inventory and supplies stocking.
• Support imaging and microscopy-based readouts on a secondary basis.
• Adapt to changing priorities in a fast-paced, on-site setting.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics, or a related life science field.
• 2 to 4 years of hands-on laboratory experience in molecular biology and assay development.
• Demonstrated proficiency in nucleic acid purification (RNA and/or DNA) and/or cell harvesting.
• Strong documentation, data analysis, and quality practices, with a proven contamination-control track record.
• Hands-on library preparation and NGS experience.
• Ability to work full-time on-site and thrive in a flexible, high-pace environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with TaqMan-based qPCR on QuantStudio platforms and Bio-Rad ddPCR (QX600 or comparable).
• Experience with antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) or other nucleic acid therapeutics.
• Prior industry experience at organizations such as BioMarin, Scribe, Ultragenyx, or similar, or a competitive industry internship (e.g., Genentech).
• Experience with human specimens (i.e. blood or blood products, urine, CSF) and working in a BSC-2 environment.
• Experience with freezer management systems or LIMS.
• Experience with GraphPad Prism or other data analysis and visualization software.

Behavioral Essentials

• Execute independently from loosely specified tasks
• Ask for help only when truly blocked, communicating clearly what's needed
• Thrive in early-stage, ambiguous, high-pace environments
• Mission-driven with genuine care for patient impact