Scientist – Ultrasound-Mediated Gene Delivery
About The Position
Merge Labs is a frontier research lab focused on bridging biological and artificial intelligence to maximize human ability, agency, and experience. We are developing advanced brain-computer interfaces. The Delivery team, which this role is part of, focuses on developing viral and non-viral delivery technologies for Merge's neurotechnology platform. This role will engineer and validate gene delivery approaches for novel molecular biosensors and actuators of neural activity in preclinical models, serving as a bridge between molecular engineering and in vivo functionality for clinical translation. The Scientist will optimize experimental conditions for focused ultrasound (FUS)-mediated delivery, tuning acoustic parameters against delivery vehicles, and will collaborate with various scientific and engineering teams.
Requirements
- A Ph.D. or equivalent experience leading research projects end-to-end in bioengineering, neuroscience, cell biology, molecular biology or a related field.
- Prior hands-on experience using focused ultrasound (FUS) to deliver genes to the brain in preclinical models.
- Demonstrated expertise in developing or optimizing gene delivery modalities.
- Developed and used methods to evaluate gene delivery and expression in brain tissues.
- Optimized focused ultrasound parameters to achieve specific expression goals.
- Worked on a delivery-related problem that is unusual or complex and loved it.
- Fun working on multidisciplinary teams, collaborating and communicating with experts across disciplines.
- The desire to be part of a fast-paced team working on frontier scientific and technical problems.
Nice To Haves
- Expertise in non-viral delivery modalities.
- Experience sourcing, evaluating, or in-licensing delivery technologies through external collaboration.
- Experience working with large animal models.
Responsibilities
- Develop preclinical gene delivery approaches using focused ultrasound paired with viral and non-viral delivery technologies.
- Systematically optimize focused ultrasound parameters against each delivery vehicle to maximize expression, spatial precision, and safety.
- Collaborate with teams building the assays and readouts needed to quantify delivery, expression, and tolerability in brain tissue.
- Design, run, and interpret in vivo experiments, iterating rapidly from data to the next round of optimization.
- Evaluate emerging delivery technologies and help shape the team's longer-term delivery strategy.
Benefits
- We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
Ph.D. or professional degree
