About the Opportunity
AstraZeneca has been rapidly expanding its genome-editing medicine portfolio, with the aim to treat and hopefully in the future, permanently cure diseases across diverse therapeutic areas.
We have a very strong therapeutic genome editing program with elite scientists and resources and the Therapeutic Genome Editing safety group work focusing on several aspects of genome editing, from developing novel Cas proteins to new delivery modalities to ensuring their safety.
This Postdoc position is a chance to do truly ground-breaking research that will enable bringing these novel medicines safely to patients. You will have the opportunity to publish in high-impact journals and you will get to work with genome editing programs at both AstraZeneca and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), USA.
Project Focus
The primary objective of this position is to help us understand the safety of CRISPR medicines by leveraging pioneering technologies. You will get the opportunity to immerse yourself in this bustling fast-paced ecosystem of ground-breaking research and get to collaborate with international experts and leading academic institutions in the field.
You will work with AstraZeneca’s Therapeutic Genome Editing safety group, a diverse group of scientists with expertise in different aspects of genome editing safety, including off-targets, immunogenicity, genome stability, as well as delivery systems safety. You will also get to interact and collaborate with the broader AstraZeneca Genome Editing program colleagues globally.
Our postdoc will report to Saumyaa Saumyaa, Associate Director, Genome Editing Safety who will oversee the project, who is[SS1] . You’ll also receive academic mentorship in collaboration with (NIST) Genome Editing Program. As a respected specialist, we will empower you to take appropriate risks, lead the project and “run with it”, whilst your AZ and academic mentors will provide you with all the support you need.
What You’ll Do
In this project, you will be working towards expanding our understanding of the underlying molecular changes that take place upon genome engineering using the state-of-the-art and upcoming genome editors. You will use pioneering technologies in the fields of genomics, transcriptomics, and microscopy to analyze the effects of genome editing on gene expression, chromatin structure, DNA repair, and cellular function. You will be primarily lab-based, designing, and performing experiments with Good Laboratory Practices, Safety, Health and Environment standards and other relevant corporate regulations.
Key Duties & Responsibilities:
- Maintain accurate record keeping
- Communicate your research in the form of presentations, posters, and manuscripts at relevant platforms
- Demonstrate an entrepreneurial spirit whilst working with emerging technologies, troubleshooting and improvising as necessary and working with high levels of agility
- Play an active role in the AstraZeneca Postdoc community, sharing the journey with other dedicated scientists, and presenting your results at internal and external conferences
Qualification, Skills & Experience
Essential Requirements
- A PhD, or equivalent within Life Science/ Biotechnology with focus on Genomics/Genetics/Molecular Biology or Immunology
- Extensive laboratory experience in molecular biology, preferably genomics and/or transcriptomics, NGS
- Knowledge and preferably hands-on experience with diverse sequencing techniques alongside knowledge and an understanding of library preparation and sequencing chemistry
Desirable Requirements
- Experience in sequencing data analysis and working knowledge of R or Python
- Understanding sequencing data analysis, in order to communicate effectively and work well with Bioinformaticians for desired analysis
- Understanding of statistics, data visualization, and quality assessment of NGS data
- Understanding of genome engineering using CRISPR-Cas9 (editing efficiency, gRNA design, Off-Target risk)
We believe you to have an entrepreneurial spirit; you’ll be someone who takes initiative, likes to work with ground-breaking technology and is driven to learn new things.
