Antibody Discovery & Engineering Scientist I​/II – CAR-T Cell & Antibody Therapies

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is seeking an experienced PhD-level scientist to join the antibody discovery and antibody-based therapeutics development-focused LAUNCHPAD or the Lab for Antibody and Nanobody Phage Display and Discovery. A pre-clinical strategic center, LAUNCHPAD’s mission is to streamline “discovery to translation” of antibody-based immunotherapies for cancer. The LAUNCHPAD team works closely with academic partners to design experimental strategies to identify promising antibody ‘hits’ as well as engineering hits to generate potential therapeutic bispecific and CAR T-cell immunotherapies.

The candidate should be an exceptionally motivated individual with a passion for working in multidisciplinary teams to design, screen and engineer immunotherapy candidates and advance next-generation therapies.

The Dana‑Farber Cancer Institute brings together world‑renowned clinicians, innovative researchers and dedicated professionals, allied in the common mission of conquering cancer. Combining extremely talented people with the best technologies in a genuinely positive environment, we provide compassionate and comprehensive care to all patients; we conduct research that advances treatment; we educate tomorrow’s physician/researchers; we reach out to underserved members of our community;

and we work with amazing partners, including other Harvard Medical School‑affiliated hospitals.

• This “leading from the bench” role provides scientific and technical expertise within multidisciplinary project teams focused on the development of antibody-based immunotherapies.
• Develop antibody selection strategies to identify novel, fully human binders from a custom library using phage- and yeast-display.
• Design experiments to characterize (e.g. binding, function, biophysical characterization & develop ability) antibody-based binders used to generate antibody-based drug modalities including CARs, multispecific T cell engagers, etc.
• Design, produce and optimize the expression and in vitro function of logic-gated and/or multispecific CARs and antibodies.
• Evaluate novel approaches to antibody and CAR‑T screening including the construction of candidate libraries and high-throughput pooled or arrayed screening approaches that leverage the use of automation.
• Design and execute workflows for producing and functionally screening antibody-based biologics and CAR‑T candidates to identify leads for clinical translation.
• Collaborate with team members across groups and mentor junior lab members to implement best practices for the operation and maintenance of immunotherapy production, screening and engineering platforms.
• Co‑author technical reports and manuscripts for publication or presentation at internal and external meetings.
• Operate and maintain laboratory instruments.

• PhD scientist with experience in antibody screening, engineering and/or CAR‑T engineering. A candidate with a M.S. degree and substantial experience (>7 years) may also be considered for this role. Industry research experience is a plus.
• Strong track record, hands‑on experience, and in‑depth knowledge in at least two of the following domain areas:
• antibody discovery (phage and yeast display strategies, affinity maturation approaches, etc.);
• antibody expression and characterization technologies including but not limited to purity and mispairing (SEC), aggregation/stability (DLS) as well as affinity characterization (SPR);
• generative AI tools for protein or antibody design (exposure and familiarity to Alphafold3, RoseTTAFold, Protein
  
  MPNN, MOE and/or other bioinformatic tools for protein modeling and de novo protein design);
• Previous hands‑on experience engineering antibody and/or CAR‑T candidates and executing key functional assays for candidate screening (assessments of cytotoxicity via plate-based or imaging-based assays, tonic signaling, develop ability, etc.).
• Exceptionally self‑motivated and capable of taking scientific initiatives.
• Excellent communication (written and verbal) and troubleshooting skills as well as the ability to work with a wide variety of collaborators.
• Outstanding planning, organizational, and multi‑tasking skills.
• Must…