Staff Scientist - Vaccine Research

City of Hope•Duarte, CA

85d

About The Position

A Staff Scientist position is available in the Vaccine Research Laboratory of Dr. Don Diamond in the Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation at the Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope. The role is part of a multidisciplinary research team developing a neoantigen-based cancer vaccine for clinical use. The team received favorable FDA comments on its Pre-IND submission using a highly efficient, fully synthetic poxvirus-vectored vaccine platform that has been used in Phase 2 clinical trials as a Covid-19 vaccine. The successful candidate will help develop and characterize recombinant vaccine vectors incorporating neoantigens identified by proprietary bioinformatic pipelines, and test vaccine candidates for in vivo immunogenicity and protective efficacy in animal tumor models. The work involves vaccine research, tumor immunology, preclinical animal models, and laboratory methods including flow cytometry and ELISPOT.

Requirements

PhD in an appropriate discipline, such as cellular or tumor immunology or a related field.
Interest and knowledge in vaccine research and neoantigen-based vaccine methods.
Hands-on experience with preclinical animal models, particularly orthotopic tumor models, including animal handling, tumor cell injections, and routine tumor measurements.
Experience in multi-color flow cytometry, ELISPOT, measurement of tumor growth by optical imaging, tumor physiology and growth markers, cell culture, and related laboratory techniques.
Ability to independently document scientific progress and write research articles.

Nice To Haves

Preferably a minimum of 3 years of experience in relevant laboratory work.
Understanding and prior experience with construction and use of viral vaccine carriers of antigens in animal models.
Knowledge and experience with ultrasound imaging for tumor monitoring.
Experience and knowledge of human immunology.

Responsibilities

Develop and characterize recombinant vaccine vectors incorporating neoantigens identified by proprietary bioinformatic pipelines.
Test vaccine candidates for in vivo immunogenicity and protective efficacy in different animal tumor models.
Work with transplantable tumor cell lines in congenic mouse models.
Independently document scientific progress and write research articles.