Senior Scientist, Cardiac Modeling

insitro•South San Francisco, CA

1d•$156,000 - $166,000•Onsite

About The Position

insitro is a physical AI company dedicated to unlocking causal human biology and accelerating the delivery of better medicines to patients. Our unique Virtual Human™ platform identifies novel, high-impact genetic intervention points, which our TherML™ platform translates into therapeutics—whether small molecules, biologics, or oligos. With multiple programs in metabolic disease and neuroscience advancing toward the clinic, and our first IND submission slated for the second half of this year, we are at a pivotal inflection point. We are seeking a Senior Scientist to join our cardiac disease biology team. In this role, you will own the development and application of iPSC-derived cardiomyocyte (iPSC-CM) models to study the genetic and molecular underpinnings of cardiovascular disease — working at the intersection of human stem cell biology, cardiac physiology, and scalable experimental platforms to generate the datasets that fuel our ML-driven drug discovery efforts. You will design and execute experiments, optimize differentiation and assay workflows, and partner closely with ML scientists, computational biologists, and chemists to connect cellular phenotypes to disease mechanisms and therapeutic targets. Based in South San Francisco, this position reports directly to Vice President, Cardiometabolic Disease - Translational Genetics and requires you to be onsite at our South San Francisco office 5 days per week.

Requirements

Ph.D. in cell biology, biomedical engineering, cardiac physiology, or a related field, with at least 3 years of industry experience
Deep hands-on experience in iPSC culture, cardiac directed differentiation, and iPSC-CM characterization across both 2D and 3D/EHT platforms
Track record building and applying genetic iPSC-CM disease models — patient-derived lines, CRISPR-edited isogenic pairs — to study cardiovascular mechanisms
Strong foundational knowledge of cardiomyocyte biology and cardiovascular disease
Experience with high-content imaging and/or automated microscopy platforms, including image analysis pipelines
Familiarity with GWAS and human genetic evidence, and experience using these data to prioritize disease mechanisms or therapeutic targets
Track record of executing rigorous experiments and communicating findings clearly in publications, presentations, or internal reports
Enthusiastic about working alongside ML scientists and understand how experimental design shapes what a model can learn
Thrive building systems from the ground up and bring the same rigor to a new workflow as to a published experiment
Work fluidly across biology, computation, and chemistry, and communicate clearly across disciplines
Drive projects forward independently in a fast-paced environment while staying aligned with team priorities

Responsibilities

Lead the generation, characterization, and maintenance of iPSC lines and their differentiation into cardiomyocytes, with rigorous quality control at each stage of the pipeline
Design, implement, and optimize iPSC-CM assays in both 2D monolayer and 3D/engineered heart tissue (EHT) formats, with a focus on scalability and data quality
Build and apply isogenic iPSC-CM disease models — including CRISPR-edited lines carrying disease-associated variants — to study cardiovascular pathophysiology
Develop readouts of cardiomyocyte biology relevant to disease —contractility, electrophysiology, calcium handling, stress responses — in formats compatible with high-throughput data acquisition
Drive documentation, SOPs, and data standards that ensure reproducible, publication-quality results across the cardiac biology platform
Partner with ML and computational biology teams to design experiments that generate high-quality training data and to interpret model outputs in biological context
Contribute to target identification and validation efforts by connecting cellular phenotypes to human genetic evidence
Mentor junior scientists and technicians, and contribute to a collaborative, scientifically rigorous team culture

Benefits

Annual Performance Bonus Plan
Equity Incentive Plan
401(k) plan with employer matching for contributions
Excellent medical, dental, and vision coverage as well as mental health and well-being support
Open, flexible vacation policy
Paid parental leave of at least 16 weeks to support parents who give birth, and 10 weeks for a new parent (inclusive of birth, adoption, fostering, etc)
Quarterly budget for books and online courses for self-development
New hire stipend for home office setup
Monthly cell phone & internet stipend
Access to free onsite baristas and daily lunch for employees who are either onsite or hybrid
Access to a free commuter bus network that provides transport to and from our South San Francisco HQ from locations all around the Bay Area