Postdoctoral Associate

Division: Center for Gene Therapy


Work Arrangement: Onsite only


Location: Houston, TX


Salary Range: $63,480


FLSA Status: Exempt


Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.


Summary


The lab is seeking a skilled scientist with expertise in immunology, genome engineering, and synthetic biology to join our cutting-edge laboratory focused on developing potent CAR-T cell therapies for cancer. The Postdoctoral Associate will play a crucial role in designing and implementing innovative genome editing strategies to enhance the efficacy and specificity of our therapeutic cells. Responsibilities include optimizing gene delivery methods, characterizing engineered cells in vitro and in vivo, and collaborating with interdisciplinary teams to advance our therapeutic pipeline. This position offers a unique opportunity to contribute to groundbreaking research at the intersection of immunotherapy and genome engineering, with the potential to make a significant impact on patient outcomes through clinical translation at Baylor College of Medicine's Center for Cell and Gene Therapy.

• Collaborates with interdisciplinary teams to advance research projects.
• Participates in brainstorming sessions and collaborative meetings with scientists, engineers, and clinicians to develop and refine genome editing strategies for CAR/TCR-T cell therapies. This involves contributing scientific expertise in immunology, genome engineering, and synthetic biology to identify innovative solutions to challenges in therapeutic development.
• Designs and executes experiments to evaluate the efficacy and safety of genome-edited cells.
• Plans and performs experiments to optimize gene editing techniques.
• Assesses the functionality of engineered cells, and evaluate their therapeutic potential both in vitro and in vivo. This includes designing CRISPR-Cas targeting strategies, transfecting or transducing cells, analyzing editing outcomes on a molelecular level , and conducting functional assays such as cytotoxicity assays and cytokine release assays. Further includes the design and execution of suitable mouse models. The impact of this duty is instrumental in determining the feasibility and success of therapeutic strategies, guiding subsequent research directions, and potentially shaping clinical applications.
• Analyzes experimental data and interprets results.
• Utilizes various bioinformatics tools and statistical methods to analyze large datasets generated from experiments that includes next-generation sequencing data, flow cytometry data, and functional assay results.
• Interprets findings in the context of project goals and scientific literature, identifying trends, correlations, and potential biomarkers of therapeutic efficacy or toxicity.
• Communicates findings effectively through presentations, reports, and scientific publications, contributing to the dissemination of knowledge within the scientific community. Additionally, collaborates with quality assurance and regulatory affairs teams to ensure data integrity and compliance with regulatory requirements for preclinical and clinical development. The impact of this duty is critical for advancing the understanding of genome-edited cell therapies and guiding decision-making in research and development efforts.
• Contributes to the preparation of grant proposals, regulatory submissions, and scientific publications.
• Assists in drafting grant applications, regulatory documents, and manuscripts, providing scientific rationale, experimental details, and data analysis to support the proposed research or therapeutic approach.
• Collaborates with principal investigators, regulatory affairs specialists, and medical writers to ensure accuracy, compliance, and adherence to deadlines.
• Contributes to the development of documentation for regulatory submissions related to GMP manufacturing processes, including Investigational New Drug (IND) applications and Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls (CMC) sections. The impact of this duty is multifaceted, as successful grant applications secure funding for research endeavors, regulatory submissions facilitate the progression of therapies toward clinical trials, and scientific publications disseminate findings to the broader scientific community, driving further innovation and collaboration.
• Contributes to regular meetings, journal clubs and training of new recruits including graduate students, technicians and summer students.
• Supervises technicians and/or summer students (to be hired) and potentially involved in training graduate students.
• Performs other job-related duties as assigned.

• MD or Ph.D. in Basic Science, Health Science, or a related field.
• No experience required.

• Experience in T cell culture and molecular biology.
• Experience in genome editing of primary human T cells.
• Experience with flow cytometry and primary immune cell culture (human or mouse or non-human primates).
• Experience with mouse experiments.
• Experience in the design and testing of CAR T cells or CAR NK cells or CAR macrophages.
• Experience using bioinformatic tools for analysis of data (R, python, similar) and protein modelling (AlphaFold etc).
• Proficient English skills in writing, reading and speaking.
• Tracks record with one or more publications related to genome editing in primary human T cells.