Senior Research Associate

POSITION SUMMARY:
The Senior Research Associate (SRA) will report to a more senior member of the staff and will be a contributing member of multidisciplinary research teams that are focused on developing and testing candidate HIV and EID vaccines based on the live Vesicular Stomatitis Virus (VSV) vector platform. The SRA should be familiar with QC assays needed to assess the quantity and quality of vaccine material. A broad knowledge and ability to perform RT-PCR and quantitative real-time PCR assays to characterize and quantify candidate vaccines and of Tangential Flow Filtration (TFF) process development needed to purify and scale-up vaccine material are essential. Knowledge of cell culture, plaque assays and ELISA are also essential along with a familiarity of Flow Cytometry. Moreover, the Scientist will be involved in animal research, which includes processing of blood and tissue specimens, quantification of viral nucleic acid, and analysis of antibodies from animals that have been exposed to live VSV vectors and/or simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) and simian HIV (SHIV). The SRA will have experience and skills needed to work independently, participate constructively in assay design and optimization, and take on significant responsibility for managing projects.

TITLE: Senior Research Associate

LOCATION: IAVI Design and Development Laboratory, Brooklyn NY

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:
• Responsible for assay design and execution, managing daily research and planning teamwork needed to characterize vaccine candidates
• Preclinical development activities - Development of assays to quantify and characterize experimental HIV and EID vaccines; Nucleic acid purification and quantification, PCR, quantitative real-time PCR, DNA sequencing and protein quantification
• Analytical evaluation of vaccines and antibodies using biochemical and immunologic methods. Methods will include protein and virus quantification assays, size exclusion chromatography, ELISA, Western blotting, competition antibody binding assays, Octet and Apogee
• Vector manufacturing - process development of both upstream and downstream methods using TFF for scalability and purification
• Animal specimen processing under sterile containment conditions; conduct assays to detect and quantify VSV or SIV
• Sterile cell culture, plaque assays and DNA transfections
• ELISA and Bio-Layer Interferometry (BLI) - Octet to quantify sera and QC virions
• Responsible for typical laboratory operations duties such as monitoring inventory, ordering supplies and reagents, maintaining safe working conditions, and disposal of chemical and bio hazardous waste. These duties will be applicable to the lab in which the Scientist works as well as across the Design and Development Laboratory as assigned
• Maintain accurate, thorough, and timely research documentation that is in compliance with standards for producing a vaccine for clinical trials
• High level of integrity, ethics and professionalism.
• Excellent documentation and communication skills. Computer proficiency including MS word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook

EDUCATION AND WORK EXPERIENCE:
The SRA must have a bachelor's degree in biological sciences or chemistry and ten years of experience working in a biochemistry or molecular biology research laboratory post-graduation although a Master's degree and three years of experience is preferred. Strong written, verbal communication and presentation skills are required, and the Scientist must be able to work well in teams.

Other Duties:
• Perform other duties as assigned