Senior Scientist - Preclinical Development

Q-State Biosciences is seeking a highly motivated, self-starting Senior Scientist to conduct preclinical research to investigate pharmacology of antisense oligonucleotides (ASO) and advance cutting edge therapies for diseases of the nervous system, such as chronic pain and epilepsy. The Senior Scientist will apply Q-State’s proprietary BRITE^TM system for ASO therapeutics, including in vitro molecular biology, neuronal electrophysiology, transcriptomics and morphological assays. The Senior Scientist will also lead ASO in vivo pharmacology, efficacy and toxicology experiments in animal preclinical models. Throughout development, the Senior Scientist will demonstrate effective collaboration on experimental design, rigorous data analysis, and clear communication. 

Responsibilities and Duties

• Execute on Q-State’s scientific and research objectives focused on drug discovery for chronic pain. Harvest primary DRG tissues to support internal pain programs.
• Leverage Q-State proprietary BRITE^TM system for ASO therapeutics development.
• Manage relationships with CROs to conduct ASO PK/PD, efficacy and toxicology studies. Serve as the expert for experiment design and data interpretation.
• Explore and develop potential biomarker strategies for different internal programs.
• Develop internal rodent preclinical model capabilities for ASO therapeutics development (delivery, tissue harvest for PK/PD, etc.)
• Independently provide neurobiology and ASO therapeutic domain expertise on cross-functional teams.

Minimum Qualifications Required

• PhD with at least 5 years of industry experience and demonstrated expertise in neurobiology, gene therapy or ASO therapeutics.
• Strong experience within ASO  therapeutics, including biodistribution, PK/PD, biomarker development, efficacy and toxicology studies.
• Direct experience with various in vitro assays for ASO therapeutics development (qPCR, ELISA, western blot, etc.).
• Hands on experience in using rodent preclinical models for ASO screening with strong expertise in drug intrathecal delivery and neuronal tissue harvesting (DRG, different brain regions, etc).
• Demonstrated publication record in high quality peer-reviewed journals.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to interact effectively with internal and external colleagues.

Additional Qualifications Desired

• Experience in CNS drug discovery (pain, epilepsy, neurodegenerative disease).
• Experience in imaging technologies, electrophysiology and -omics readouts.
• Experience in primary neuronal culture and human iPSC-derived neuronal culture.
• Experience with non-human primate preclinical models.
• Experience preparing documents for regulatory submissions.