Scientist, Microglia Therapeutics Team

Retro•Redwood City, CA

6d•$150,000 - $190,000

About The Position

Retro is seeking an experienced, hands-on scientist to join its Microglia Therapeutics team and drive discovery research in Alzheimer’s disease. The role focuses on developing in vitro and in vivo disease models, establishing assays, and designing and interpreting experiments to investigate the therapeutic potential of Retro’s microglial cell therapy. The successful candidate will be passionate about neurobiology and solutions for age-related neurodegenerative disease, comfortable working independently while collaborating across teams, and able to troubleshoot experiments and move between experimental design and hands-on bench work. The role emphasizes impactful science, clear communication, openness to scientific challenge, and collaboration.

Requirements

Ph.D. in Neuroscience, Biology, or a related field.
At least 3 years of relevant post-degree experience in academia or industry.
At least 3 years of hands-on experience in Alzheimer’s disease research, including designing and using in vitro and in vivo disease models.
Strong mammalian cell culture skills and experience working with iPSC-derived neural cell types and brain organoids.
Experience developing and optimizing cell-based and molecular assays to investigate biological function or disease phenotypes.
Experience with brain tissue immunostaining, fluorescence or confocal microscopy, and quantitative image analysis, including interpreting neuronal cell morphology and Alzheimer’s disease-associated pathology.
Ability to independently design and troubleshoot experiments, critically evaluate results, and adapt approaches as new findings emerge.

Nice To Haves

Experience with microglial biology or differentiation of iPSCs into microglia.
Experience performing CNS cell transplantation procedures.

Responsibilities

Design and execute discovery experiments to evaluate the potential of the microglial cell therapy in Alzheimer’s disease.
Culture and differentiate iPSCs into CNS cell types, troubleshooting and optimizing 2D and 3D organoid protocols for research experiments.
Develop and use 2D and 3D organoid in vitro disease models to investigate responses to Alzheimer’s disease-relevant challenges.
Design and optimize in vivo Alzheimer’s disease modeling approaches, including disease model selection, experimental groups, controls, time points, and readouts to evaluate microglial engraftment, function, and effects on disease-associated pathology.
Develop and optimize cellular and molecular assays to evaluate microglial function and disease-relevant phenotypes, including cytokine profiles and imaging-based readouts.
Design, troubleshoot, and perform experimental staining and fluorescence or confocal imaging for cultured cells, organoids, and brain tissue from Alzheimer’s disease in vivo models; interpret changes in microglial morphology, engraftment, and disease-associated pathology.
Partner with histology and imaging colleagues on routine sectioning, staining, and image acquisition, providing scientific guidance on experimental methods, image quality, and interpretation.
Integrate findings across in vitro experiments and in vivo tissue studies to refine hypotheses and determine next steps.
Analyze and present experimental results to internal teams and collaborators.
Collaborate within the Microglia Therapeutics team and across Retro teams, including In Vivo, Computational Biology, and Automation.
Maintain an organized electronic lab notebook, contribute to supporting documents, and participate in lab organization and ordering.