Senior Scientist COPD/IPF

AstraZeneca•Gaithersburg, MD

About The Position

This job is a lab-based research role, and you will have a significant opportunity to influence the direction of the work. The work will be predominantly with human in vitro systems, working with primary and disease tissue-derived cells. Ideally, you have strong expertise with primary cell culture (human lung stromal cells and macrophages) and in vitro techniques assays such as Westerns, ELISAs, PCR. Experience in IHC, Ventana is a plus. You will focus your contributions to a team focused on characterizing novel biology pathways pertinent to chronic lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) to aid target validation and drug projects. In a team setting, you will contribute by applying molecular and cellular biology techniques, and to interpret and communicate results to team members. You will support new target identification and validation. You will collaborate with scientists from a variety of functional teams in Gaithersburg and with our sites in Cambridge, UK, and Gothenburg, Sweden.

Requirements

Master's or Bachelor’s degree in biology or related fields
Expert in IHC, Ventana and respiratory biology (COPD, IPF)
Highly organized and self-motivated, with the ability to work independently as well as collaboratively within a team to contribute to research projects
Demonstrated ability to design and conduct laboratory projects/experiments, develop methods, generate and interpret scientific data; competent in trouble shooting and critiquing data
Strong hands-on skills in basic biochemical and molecular techniques including cell culture, quantification of mRNA (qPCR) and protein expression; ELISA, as well as assay development
Expertise in primary human cell culture, especially Air-Liquid-interface epithelial cell cultures, primary lung fibroblasts , immune cells, macrophages
Strong written and oral communication skills and the ability to critically analyze datasets
The ability to work as part of a team and collaborate with colleagues across a variety of discipline

Nice To Haves

Experience in IHC, Ventana
Experience in Ventana, MSD
Experience with PowerPoint, Excel, GraphPad Prism
Drug discovery experience is a plus

Responsibilities

Focus your contributions to a team focused on characterizing novel biology pathways pertinent to chronic lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) to aid target validation and drug projects
Contribute by applying molecular and cellular biology techniques, and to interpret and communicate results to team members
Support new target identification and validation
Collaborate with scientists from a variety of functional teams in Gaithersburg and with our sites in Cambridge, UK, and Gothenburg, Sweden