Senior Research Associate, Genetic Perturbation Screening (Fixed-Term Contract)

The role

The Senior Research Associate will support the routine execution of arrayed and pooled genetic perturbation screens in human pluripotent stem cell-derived microglia. This role involves facilitating workflows for stem cell culture, differentiation, and viral transduction to support the Alzheimer's Disease Initiative.

What you will do

• Execute routine stem cell culture and differentiation protocols.
• Conduct and optimize lentiviral transduction-based experiments.
• Leverage in vitro cell-based assays to characterize functional activity of perturbed cells.
• Support cross-functional execution of genetic perturbation screens.
• Maintain careful records in ELN and organize materials in LIMS.
• Troubleshoot and identify opportunities to improve protocols and platform capabilities.
• Analyze and present data at internal meetings and seminars.

Required qualifications

• BS degree in relevant field with 4+ years of relevant experience, or MS degree in relevant field with 2+ years of relevant postgraduate experience.
• Relevant lab experience including proficient skills for stem cell and progenitor cell culturing and routine characterization.
• Proficiency in plate-based or automation-compatible screening workflows.
• Experience running and analyzing flow cytometry experiments, including multi-color panels, immunostaining, and FlowJo analyses.
• Experience with LIMS systems, ideally Benchling.
• Detail-oriented with excellent organizational and time management skills.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.
• Ability to multitask, willingness to learn, and work in a highly collaborative environment.
• Work onsite in our Palo Alto office 5 days per week.

Nice to have

• Experience differentiating hPSCs into neural or immune lineages; microglia differentiation experience highly desirable.
• Experience with automation.
• Familiarity with CRISPR-Cas9 or other genome editing or genetic perturbation techniques.
• Proficiency and experience with molecular cloning, virus production, and cell line engineering.
• Industry experience is desirable

Before you apply

• This role is not eligible for visa sponsorship.

About the company

Arc Institute is an independent nonprofit research organization at the interface of artificial intelligence and biology. It is based in Palo Alto and partners with Stanford University, UC Berkeley, and UC San Francisco.