Postdoctoral Associate: Immunology, Gene Therapy, Molecular Biology

Site: The General Hospital Corporation

 

Mass General Brigham relies on a wide range of professionals, including doctors, nurses, business people, tech experts, researchers, and systems analysts to advance our mission. As a not-for-profit, we support patient care, research, teaching, and community service, striving to provide exceptional care. We believe that high-performing teams drive groundbreaking medical discoveries and invite all applicants to join us and experience what it means to be part of Mass General Brigham.

 

 

Job Summary

Neutralizing antibodies to adeno-associated virus (AAV) occur naturally and block the delivery of life-saving gene therapy. Individuals with antibodies are currently excluded from receiving gene therapies, leaving countless patients with debilitating, terminal genetic disease who cannot receive potentially transformative therapies. Emerging options to reduce neutralizing antibodies include medications that cleave or decrease the lifespan of AAV antibodies or that target plasma cells, however optimal deployment of these approaches will require rapid and robust measurement of AAV antibodies in the clinical setting.

We are seeking a highly motivated and talented Post-Doctoral Scholar to join a brand-new interdisciplinary, industry-academic consortium focused on developing a rapid, robust and reliable assay for AAV antibodies that could be used in the clinic and rapidly incorporate new AAV serotypes and evolved novel AAV capsids. We first plan to use testing platforms to identify which features of pre-existing immunity can predict alterations in safety and efficacy of AAV gene therapies. We next want to compare the attributes of a variety of antibody-measurement technologies (including multiplexed ELISA approaches and mass spectrometry) on standardized positive control antibody cocktails and patient samples from individuals pre- and post-gene therapy administration. We will then leverage these data packets to work with clinicians, scientists and regulators to develop a robust, standardized, platform-based assay that will accelerate testing and enable approaches to modulate antibodies in the clinic.

The Post-Doctoral Scholar will be co-advised by Michelle Rengarajan MD, PhD at MGH and Barbara Sullivan PhD, Senior Director of Immunology and Biomarker Strategy at Ultragenyx. The Post-Doctoral scholar will work closely with a diverse team of researchers, including scientists and clinicians from academia and industry to optimize and validate these technologies for detecting AAV antibodies. The role involves applying expertise in molecular biology, immunology, and assay development, while also participating in cross-disciplinary collaborations to advance novel approaches for AAV antibody measurement.

Neutralizing antibodies to adeno-associated virus (AAV) occur naturally and block the delivery of life-saving gene therapy. Individuals with antibodies are currently excluded from receiving gene therapies, leaving countless patients with debilitating, terminal genetic disease who cannot receive potentially transformative therapies. Emerging options to reduce neutralizing antibodies include medications that cleave or decrease the lifespan of AAV antibodies or that target plasma cells, however optimal deployment of these approaches will require rapid and robust measurement of AAV antibodies in the clinical setting.

 

Qualifications

We are seeking a highly motivated and talented Post-Doctoral Scholar to join a brand-new interdisciplinary, industry-academic consortium focused on developing a rapid, robust and reliable assay for AAV antibodies that could be used in the clinic and rapidly incorporate new AAV serotypes and evolved novel AAV capsids. We first plan to use testing platforms to identify which features of pre-existing immunity can predict alterations in safety and efficacy of AAV gene therapies. We next want to compare the attributes of a variety of antibody-measurement technologies (including multiplexed ELISA approaches and mass spectrometry) on standardized positive control antibody cocktails and patient samples from individuals pre- and post-gene therapy administration. We will then leverage these data packets to work with clinicians, scientists and regulators to develop a robust, standardized, platform-based assay that will accelerate testing and enable approaches to modulate antibodies in the clinic.

The Post-Doctoral Scholar will be co-advised by Michelle Rengarajan MD, PhD at MGH and Barbara Sullivan PhD, Senior Director of Immunology and Biomarker Strategy at Ultragenyx. The Post-Doctoral scholar will work closely with a diverse team of researchers, including scientists and clinicians from academia and industry to optimize and validate these technologies for detecting AAV antibodies. The role involves applying expertise in molecular biology, imm