Senior Research Investigator / Research Leader (Translational Pharmacology), London

The role

You will shape and advance an exploratory research portfolio with a focus on neurodegenerative diseases. You will translate mechanistic insights of human disease into therapeutic hypotheses, target validation packages, and experimental workflows.

What you will do

• Define and evolve neurodegeneration research strategy with therapeutic area leadership
• Integrate insights from human genetics, disease pathology, and clinical datasets
• Drive early portfolio progression decisions using target validation criteria
• Develop human disease-relevant therapeutic hypotheses
• Translate therapeutic concepts into biologically rigorous screening cascades
• Profile novel chemical matter from in silico generative design pipelines
• Embed translational thinking around target engagement, biomarkers, and patient stratification
• Design and evaluate assays with AI/ML, computational biology, and structural biology teams
• Serve as scientific lead for portfolio programs and manage timelines
• Manage outsourced studies with CROs and academic collaborators

Required qualifications

• PhD or equivalent industrial/research experience in Neuroscience, Translational Medicine, Pharmacology, Cellular/Molecular Biology, or a related discipline
• Deep mechanistic understanding of neurodegenerative disease biology
• Expert practical knowledge of translational models (in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo)
• Expert knowledge of patient-derived cellular systems
• Expert knowledge of designing robust screening cascades from Target ID through Hit-to-Lead/Lead Optimisation
• Success in advancing therapeutic hypotheses through target validation and profiling novel chemical matter
• Experience designing, contracting, and managing external research studies with CROs and academic collaborators
• Experience collaborating with bioinformatics, cheminformatics, or computational biology teams

Nice to have

• Track record of driving strategic compound de-risking and SAR in collaboration with medicinal chemistry and DMPK teams
• Working knowledge of biophysical, biochemical, and cellular screening techniques (e.g., SPR, TR-FRET, mass spectrometry, high-content imaging)
• Broad biological experience in diseases of aging or neuroinflammation outside classical neurodegeneration
• Prior experience in early clinical biomarker discovery or target engagement assay development

About the company

Isomorphic Labs (IsoLabs) was launched in 2021 to advance human health by building on and beyond the Nobel-winning AlphaFold system. The company uses AI models to accelerate scientific discovery and design novel molecules.