Scientist, Neurodegeneration

Altos Labs•San Francisco, CA

4d•Onsite

About The Position

Join Altos Labs at the Bay Area Discovery Science center and play a pivotal role in our mission to reverse brain aging. We are seeking a driven neuroscientist with deep expertise in neurodegeneration to join our highly collaborative, fast-paced team. In this role, you will work closely with cross-functional experts to discover and validate optimal therapeutic targets for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. If you are passionate about translating complex biology into transformative therapies, we want you on our team.

Requirements

Ph.D. in Neuroscience (or a related field) backed by 1+ years of post-doctoral or industry research experience focused on neurodegeneration.
Robust understanding of neurodegenerative disease biology, including a nuanced perspective on the strengths and limitations of the rodent models used to study it.
Established publication record in the field and accustomed to presenting your findings at conferences or similar scientific venues.
Extensive, practical experience processing and analyzing both rodent and human brain tissue samples.
Practical experience with animal surgeries, behavior, and vascular biology, and proficiency in imaging and behavioral analysis techniques.
Experience working with therapeutic modalities relevant to the Central Nervous System (CNS), such as AAV-based approaches, ASOs, or small molecules.
Strong quantitative and statistical judgment, enabling you to design appropriately powered studies, analyze complex data, and interpret results objectively without over-extrapolating.
Highly self-directed—capable of defining a problem, selecting the right approach, and driving it to a conclusion with minimal oversight.
Practice rigorous critical thinking and are always willing to interrogate your own data or change your position when the evidence warrants it.
Comfortable and composed in a fast-moving, high-stakes environment where priorities can shift, decisions carry real weight, and quality must be sustained under pressure.
Excel at working across disciplines and possess the strong communication skills needed to present complex technical datasets clearly to broad, mixed audiences.
Enthusiastic about defining, implementing, and championing technical and cultural standards (like experimental rigor and reproducibility) across our scientific functions.

Nice To Haves

Practical experience with animal surgeries, behavior, and vascular biology, and proficiency in imaging and behavioral analysis techniques.
Some exposure to analyzing biological datasets and a strong desire to build deep expertise in transcriptomics, proteomics, or spatial approaches.
Basic skills in bioinformatics data processing or programming (e.g., Python or R) and eagerness to apply these to large-scale data management.
Interest in expanding your knowledge of working with human post-mortem or biopsy samples and the unique challenges of cohort-level data.
Motivation to learn advanced imaging techniques, spatial biology, or high-content quantitative histology to enhance your research.
Strong potential for growth and a commitment to working effectively within a high-performing, collaborative team environment.
Clear and effective communicator, capable of presenting technical information to your peers and cross-functional partners.

Responsibilities

Act as the scientific lead for a key segment of our neurodegeneration portfolio. You will shape critical research questions, design robust experiments, and drive studies through to actionable, interpretable conclusions.
Design and execute in vivo studies using rodent models of neurodegeneration, strategically selecting models, timepoints, and endpoints tailored to specific biological questions and program stages.
Process and analyze both rodent and human brain tissue. This includes dissection, regional sampling, fixation, cryopreservation, sectioning, and comprehensive downstream characterization (molecular, biochemical, and histological).
Develop and apply precise quantitative readouts for pathology and disease biology, tracking markers such as protein aggregation, neuroinflammation, cell loss, and vascular integrity.
Partner closely with internal experts—including in vivo pharmacology, histology, molecular biology, computational, and program management teams—as well as external collaborators and CROs to seamlessly deliver on shared timelines.
Establish and promote the highest technical and cultural standards across our scientific functions. You will help embed foundational practices—such as experimental rigor, blinding, randomization, data provenance, and reproducibility—into our day-to-day operations.
Actively contribute to program strategy and high-level decision-making, providing critical input on go/no-go recommendations. We value transparent communication, so you will be expected to flag risks early and candidly.
Maintain rigorous, traceable records and structured data capture, ensuring your findings can be easily reviewed, reproduced, and built upon by the wider team.
Keep a close pulse on the latest neurodegeneration literature and proactively bring relevant external developments to bear on our internal research programs.