Senior Scientist, In Vivo Pharmacology

Company Summary

Each day, the lives of more than 2 billion people across the globe are impacted by chronic diseases. Moreover, the economic burden on society of treating chronic disease is spinning out of control. Today, this dire situation appears unlikely to change as >95% of global healthcare costs are spent on treating rather than preventing chronic diseases. FL84, Inc. is a privately held early-stage company that is developing and applying advanced biological and computational platforms to discover breakthroughs in detection of and intervention against the etiologies that drive progression from health to disease. Our goal is to leverage FL84’s proprietary platforms to disrupt the current approach of treating chronic disease too late. We endeavor to provide true health care rather than sick care to individuals that are at risk of progressing to disease.

FL84 was founded by Flagship Pioneering an innovative enterprise that conceives, creates, resources, and grows first-in-category life sciences companies. Flagship Pioneering has created over 100 groundbreaking companies over the past twenty years, all of which are pioneering novel and proprietary biological, industrial, and engineering approaches to solve major needs in human health and sustainability. These companies include Moderna (MRNA) Generate Biomedicines, Sana Biotechnology (SANA), Tessera Therapeutics, Evelo Biosciences (EVLO), Indigo Agriculture, Seres Therapeutics (MCRB), and Syros Pharmaceuticals (SYRS). To date, Flagship has deployed over $2.5 billion in capital toward the founding and growth of its pioneering companies alongside more than $19 billion of follow-on investments from other institutions. In 2021, Flagship Pioneering was ranked 12th globally on Fortune’s “Change the World” list, an annual ranking of companies that have made a positive social and environmental impact through activities that are part of their core business strategies.

Position Summary

We are seeking a talented and highly motivated Senior Scientist to lead the company’s in vivo pharmacology strategy in the discovery and validation of novel targets in multiple disease areas affecting the liver, colon, and brain. The candidate will be responsible for designing, executing, analyzing, and troubleshooting all in vivo pharmacology experiments at FL84.

The candidate will be an integral member of all therapeutic programs to devise and execute the in vivo strategy. This will include the evaluation and characterization of disease models, the design and execution of pharmacologic experiments in vivo to evaluate therapeutic targets, and the interpretation of the results to inform program strategy. The work will primarily be executed externally, so the ability to evaluate CROs, develop SOWs, monitor remote study execution, and coordinate sample analysis through third parties is vital. Hands-on experience in the design and execution of in vivo studies is required for the candidate to be successful. The candidate will also be expected to perform some sample processing and analysis in house, so experience in tissue processing and basic analysis by western blot, ELISA, qPCR, or imaging is required. When warranted, the candidate will also need to train and supervise junior employees in relevant experimental techniques.

The candidate will play a central role across all programs and needs to be comfortable working in and contributing to a very dynamic and cross-functional team environment. The ideal candidate must be creative, independent, goal-oriented, have excellent communication skills, be willing to learn new skills, and work in a fast-paced entrepreneurial environment.

Key Responsibilities:

• Drive and execute the in vivo strategy across multiple disease to achieve program goals
• Independently design, plan, and execute in vivo studies and analyze pharmacological results to answer scientific questions and advance the programs
• Develop and optimize experimental protocols and methodologies; and ensure reproducibility and reliability of experimental results
• Process and analyze samples from in vivo experiments in house; when warranted train and supervise junior lab scientists in support of the in vivo studies
• Communicate experimental plans, timelines, results, and budgets in multiple settings
• Work with the biology team to identify translatable cellular systems to be developed in house or through CRO relationships
• Maintain detailed records of experimental protocols and data in laboratory notebooks in accordance with company policy

Minimum Qualifications

• PhD in Pharmacology, Cell Biology, or related field, with 3+ years of relevant industry experience
• Proficiency with small animal handling, dosing of molecules through a variety of different routes and tissue harvest is required
• Hands-on experience and broad familiarity with cellular and molecular biology assays in animal tissues, such as qPCR, Western Blot, ELISA, histological techniques, imaging, and flow cytometry
• Clear understanding of disease-relevant in vitro assays and how they relate to in vivo models of disease
• Excellent communication, and presentation skills, capable of conveying technical information in a clear and thorough manner
• Extremely organized and dependable with the documentation and communication of experimental plans, timelines, and technical reports.
• Self-motivated, able to work independently, highly organized with strong attention to detail, and desire to learn new skills

Preferred Qualifications 

• Experience in liver disease, metabolic disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases
• Experience with basic formulation and PK experiment
• Experience with the use of RNAi in vivo

About Flagship

Flagship Pioneering is a bioplatform innovation company that invents and builds platform companies, each with the potential for multiple products that transform human health or sustainability. Since its launch in 2000, Flagship has originated and fostered more than 100 scientific ventures, resulting in more than $90 billion in aggregate value. Many of the companies Flagship has founded have addressed humanity’s most urgent challenges: vaccinating billions of people against COVID-19, curing intractable diseases, improving human health, preempting illness, and feeding the world by improving the resiliency and sustainability of agriculture.  Flagship has been recognized twice on FORTUNE’s “Change the World” list, an annual ranking of companies that have made a positive social and environmental impact through activities that are part of their core business strategies, and has been twice named to Fast Company’s annual list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies. Learn more about Flagship at www.flagshippioneering.com.

Flagship Pioneering and our ecosystem companies are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. 

At Flagship, we recognize there is no perfect candidate. If you have some of the experience listed above but not all, please apply anyway. Experience comes in many forms, skills are transferable, and passion goes a long way. We are dedicated to building diverse and inclusive teams and look forward to learning more about your unique background.

Recruitment & Staffing Agencies: Flagship Pioneering and its affiliated Flagship Lab companies (collectively, “FSP”) do not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than candidates. The submission of unsolicited resumes by recruitment or staffing agencies to FSP or its employees is strictly prohibited unless contacted directly by Flagship Pioneering’s internal Talent Acquisition team. Any resume submitted by an agency in the absence of a signed agreement will automatically become the property of FSP, and FSP will not owe any referral or other fees with respect thereto.