Research Associate, Bioscience Immunology, Early Respiratory and Immunology

Research Associate, Bioscience Immunology, Early Respiratory and Immunology

Location: Waltham/Boston, MA US

AstraZeneca is a global, science-driven biopharmaceutical company. We are dedicated to discovering, developing, and delivering innovative, meaningful medicines and healthcare solutions that enrich the lives of patients. The vision of AstraZeneca Early Respiratory & Immunology (Early R&I) is centered on delivering life-changing products that advance world health and help fight and cure disease. Early R&I is one of three main therapeutic research areas within AstraZeneca that deliver candidate drugs into late-stage clinical development. Here, you’ll have the opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives every day.

As a part of a growing Immunology Bioscience team within the Early R&I department, we are seeking a highly motivated scientist with diverse laboratory skills to join our collaborative team. This candidate would ideally have experience in immunology or related disciplines such as biology, biomedical engineering, virology, genetics or microbiology. The role will be based in Waltham, MA within AstraZeneca’s state-of-the-art laboratories where you will follow the science to help drive innovation and advance medicine to help improve patient lives.

In this role, you would be expected to demonstrate a high level of enthusiasm for innovative scientific research leading to the discovery and development of novel therapeutics. Expertise in primary cell culture and assay development is essential while other skills such as flow cytometry, multiplex cytokine read-outs, qPCR and in vitro / ex vivo culture of immune cells is strongly preferred.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

This job is a lab-based research role and the work will be predominantly human in vitro systems, working with primary and disease tissue-derived cells, although knowledge and experience of in vivo science is a plus.

• You will focus your research on characterizing novel immunological pathways in health and disease to aid target validation and drug discovery projects

• You will be involved in the development of new assays to profile and understand the mechanism of action of novel therapeutics.

• You will benefit from daily interaction and collaboration with highly accomplished scientists and the position offers a unique opportunity to work in a dynamic and innovative environment developing your career at the interface of research and drug discovery.

• Encouragement and support will be provided to help the individual develop specialist knowledge and skill sets.

• Publication of your work in high impact journals.

Requirements

• Master’s degree in biology, immunology or relevant discipline preferred with 0 years of experience; Bachelor’s degree with a year of experience required

• Highly organized and self-motivated, with the ability to work independently as well as collaboratively within a team to conduct a high-level research project is essential

• Strong hands-on skills in basic biochemical, immunological and molecular techniques are strongly preferred in at least one of the techniques listed: including primary cell culture, quantification of mRNA (qPCR), multi-panel flow cytometry (including both intracellular and extracellular markers) and protein expression; ELISA, Western blot, MSD, Luminex, etc.

• Strong written and oral communication skills and the ability to critically analyze data sets

• Demonstrated ability to run collaborative efforts and utilize external resources to find the most effective solutions to drug discovery problems

• Ability to record protocols and experiments in timely manner and maintain excellent laboratory notebook.

• Biotech or pharmaceutical experience preferred but not essential.

This position is located in Waltham, MA.

What does the Waltham site have to offer?

• Modern 64-acre campus nestled in 200+acres of nature conservation land and hikind trails

• Flexible, agile lab design with co-located write-up space

• Onsite business & meeting center, ofice, AV and catering support

• BioHub socials twice a month on campus

• Expanded café with multiple dining options and outdoor seating

• Free and plentiful parking including a covered parking garage and electric car charging ports

• Outdoor sports area including a sand