Senior Research Associate, Animal Genetics

OmniAb•Emeryville, CA

6d•Onsite

About The Position

OmniAb provides our pharmaceutical industry partners access to the most diverse antibody repertoires and cutting-edge screening technologies to enable discovery of next-generation therapeutics. We leverage our state-of-the-art technologies to facilitate the discovery of best-in-class antibodies. Within OmniAb are also core capabilities for the discovery and screening of high-value ion channel and transporter targets. OmniAb consists of dynamic, collaborative, and innovative team members that are passionate about contributing to the technological frontier of drug discovery and to the advancement of global human health. Together, with our partners, we are enabling the discovery of next-generation therapeutics. We’re seeking a Senior Research Associate who will be responsible for the culture of genetically modified primordial germ cells for the generation of chickens expressing human antibodies and other novel antigen-binding scaffolds. This position will interface between cell culture and molecular biology teams. This position represents a critical role in developing our next generation of innovative in vivo platforms for the discovery of novel therapeutics. A successful candidate would have strong technical skills and hands-on experience in primary cell culture and genetic modification. The Animal Genetics group focuses on engineering chickens to produce human antibodies in various formats for different therapeutic applications. New genetically modified lines of chickens are validated in antibody discovery campaigns and the antibodies produced are characterized prior to the chickens being used in partner programs. The genetic modification of chickens requires culturing chicken germline cells and affecting genetic changes using modern methods of gene editing. The ideal candidate has experience in stem cell culture, stem cell genetic modification, and molecular biology techniques. This role reports to the Fellow in Animal Genetics. This is an onsite position based out of our Emeryville headquarters. This is a full-time position, and the working hours are 8am-5pm PT.

Requirements

M.S. with 5+ years experience
Experience with stem cell culture is required
Experience with genetic modification of stem cells
Experience in molecular biology
Ability to prioritize tasks and complete projects on time
Eagerness to learn new methods and apply knowledge to a steady stream of new projects with distinct goals
Must demonstrate well-developed communication, record keeping, organizational skills, and the ability to work in a team environment

Nice To Haves

Experience with antibody discovery or characterization
Experience with transgenic animals

Responsibilities

Propagate and genetically modify chicken primordial germ cells (PGCs), monitoring morphology and growth characteristics and correlating them with germline transmission
Design and implement gene editing tools for precision genetic modification of PGCs
Produce germline chimeras by microinjection of PGCs
Establish re-derived PGC lines from transgenic animals and evaluate their germline competence
Characterize PGC lines and transgenes by immunological methods, PCR and sequencing
Evaluate novel antibody formats and gene editing strategies in immortalized B cells prior to PGC modification by flow cytometry, PCR, RT-PCR and sequencing
Collaborate with team members on immunophenotyping of new bird lines and on routine genotyping tasks
Keep accurate and complete notebook entries with effective data management and visualization
Maintain inventories of cell culture media and reagents, prioritizing replenishment of cell stocks as needed
Present at OmniAb internal meetings on genetic modification work