2026 Summer Intern | NGS and Functional Genomics

Ionis•Carlsbad, CA

16d•$18 - $23•Hybrid

About The Position

Headquartered in Carlsbad, California, and with offices in Boston, Massachusetts, and Dublin, Ireland, Ionis has been at work for more than three decades discovering medical breakthroughs that have redefined life for people with serious diseases. We’re pioneers in RNA-targeted medicines, and our platform continues to revolutionize drug discovery and transform lives for patients with unmet needs. With multiple marketed medicines and a leading pipeline in neurology, cardiology and select areas of high patient needs, we continue to drive innovation in RNA therapies in addition to advancing new approaches in gene editing to provide greater value to patients and are well positioned financially to deliver on our strategic goals. At Ionis, we pride ourselves on cultivating a challenging, motivating and rewarding environment that fosters innovation and scientific excellence. We know that our success is a direct result of the exceptional talents and dedication of our employees. With an unprecedented opportunity to change the course of human health, we look to add diverse individuals, skill sets and perspectives to our exceptional team. We continue to invest time, money and energy into making our onsite, hybrid and remote work environments a place where solid and lasting relationships are built and where our culture and employees can thrive. We’re building on our rich history, and we believe our greatest achievements are ahead of us. If you’re passionate about the opportunity to have meaningful impact on patients in need, we invite you to apply and join us. Experience and contribute to our unique culture while you develop and expand your career! NGS and Functional Genomics Summary: The NGS and Functional Genomics teams are seeking a highly motivated intern with interests in molecular biology, genomics, and data science. This internship offers hands-on experience developing and validating long-read sequencing methods that support ongoing research and development. The intern will work in a collaborative environment to generate transcriptomics libraries for long-read sequencing platforms, support the implementation and optimization of long-read library preparation protocols, assess library and sequencing data quality using Ionis internal analysis pipelines, and interpret results in partnership with the team to summarize findings. What You Will Learn Fundamental differences between short- and long-read sequencing technologies How to generate transcriptomics libraries for multiple sequencing platforms Quality control (QC) and evaluation of sequencing libraries Operation of short- and long-read sequencing instruments Principles of assay development, optimization and validation How sequencing data is processed and interpreted using internal analysis pipelines Best practices for documenting experimental workflows and results How to communicate experimental results and QC findings in a collaborative R&D setting How interdisciplinary teams integrate molecular biology and data analysis to solve research problems

Requirements

Current junior or senior undergraduate student pursuing a degree in Molecular Biology, Genomics, Bioengineering, Computational Biology, or a related field
Completion of multiple lab-based coursework classes in Molecular Biology or related disciplines
General understanding of Molecular and Computational Biology
Strong documentation skills, including the ability to record experimental procedures, workflow parameters, observations, results, and decision rationale to ensure reproducibility
Comfort with method development and optimization, including iterating on conditions, comparing approaches, and making data-driven recommendations
Working knowledge of basic statistics and experimental design sufficient to support assay validation
Strong organizational skills and attention to detail
Enthusiasm for learning and working in a collaborative laboratory environment
MUST be currently enrolled in a U.S. Undergraduate and/or Graduate Degree Program and not graduating prior to the completion of the Ionis internship.
MUST be able to begin internship between 6/8 and 8/14/2026.
MUST be able and willing to remain in program through at least 8/14/2026.
MUST be able and willing to commit to a minimum 40-hour work week.

Nice To Haves

Prior research experience through independent study or internship
Exposure to RNA sequencing, NGS workflows, or genomics assays
Comfortable working in Linux/command line environments; able to run and adapt existing workflows
Working proficiency in Python or R
Exposure to long-read transcriptomics and/or long-read data analysis workflows

Responsibilities

generate transcriptomics libraries for long-read sequencing platforms
support the implementation and optimization of long-read library preparation protocols
assess library and sequencing data quality using Ionis internal analysis pipelines
interpret results in partnership with the team to summarize findings