Co-op: Discovery & Early Development Biomarkers

Biogen SANDBOX•Cambridge, MA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Discovery and Early Development Biomarkers group, part of Biogen’s Research and Early Development department, supports the identification and quantification of preclinical and clinical biomarkers for programs across Biogen’s portfolio. Our team works in the fluid biomarker space, with a focus on blood and cerebrospinal fluid for biomarker detection. Our projects span from exploratory work for determination of novel biomarkers to assay development for clinical biomarker measurement. We employ a variety of techniques for this work, including immunoassays and mass spectrometry. The accurate measurement of informative biomarkers plays a critical role in Biogen’s strategy for therapeutic development. We use target engagement biomarker data to evaluate the efficacy of our emerging drugs, and we use pharmacodynamic biomarker data to begin to test the casual link between our target and downstream disease biology. These data have been used to halt ineffective programs and to push forward promising candidates. Ultimately, the more effectively we can focus on our most promising therapeutics, the more quickly we can achieve our goal to benefit patients. We are seeking a highly motivated student to complete a discovery-based project in support of biomarker development for multiple programs. The student will learn both exploratory and targeted mass spectrometry techniques, from sample preparation to data analysis, and will apply these skills to profile the measurable proteomes of healthy and disease human CSF. In addition to supporting the fluid biomarker team, the student will attend Biomarker group meetings and collaborate with internal groups related to the project. The student will present his or her work at a poster session at the end of the co-op.