Investigative Toxicology Scientist

Job
Employee Type: exempt full-time
Division:
Applied & Development Research Program
Facility:
Frederick:
Ft Detrick

Location:

PO Box B, Frederick, MD 21702 USA

The Frederick National Laboratory is operated by Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc. The lab addresses some of the most urgent and intractable problems in the biomedical sciences in cancer and AIDS, drug development and first‑in‑human clinical trials, applications of nanotechnology in medicine, and rapid response to emerging threats of infectious diseases.

Accountability, Compassion, Collaboration, Dedication, Integrity and Versatility; it's the FNL way.

The Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNL) is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and operated by the prime contractor Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc. FNL is responsible for pursuing a unique mission in translational and applied biomedical research that is unsuitable for academia, the pharmaceutical industry, or other federal contractors. This position is ideally suited for a person who is interested in applied Research & Development.

The selected candidate will join the Investigative Toxicology Laboratory (ITL) located at the NCI‑Frederick campus.

The mission of the ITL is to support the NCI Toxicology and Pharmacology Branch with laboratory investigations of anticancer drug adverse effects that inform NCI Developmental Therapeutics Program (DTP). ITL develops and implements mechanism‑based, human‑relevant, in vitro assays with cutting‑edge technology to improve and apply translational accuracy and predictive power of organ toxicity assessments for early discovery and development of new anticancer agents, and to screen compounds for remedies that effectively prevent or reverse chemotherapeutic‑induced organ toxicity.

• Provide scientific and experimental contributions to in vitro strategies to investigate cellular toxicities that complement the mission of DTP to discover, develop, and characterize new anticancer drugs and their molecular targets
• Conduct experiments to identify potential liabilities (cardiotoxicity, neurotoxicity, on‑/off‑target cytotoxicity of cell‑based therapies, etc.) and inform hit‑to‑lead and lead optimization
• Using current scientific and technical knowledge and experience, implement experimental strategies
• Experimental evaluation of established in vitro toxicology tools that enable high content evaluation, while developing and establishing new assays based on novel findings of toxicological mechanisms from the extramural community
• Conduct in vitro investigations to understand important toxicological findings arising from preclinical evaluations and first‑in‑human clinical trials of investigational agents
• Present experimental findings and their interpretations as needed to senior scientific leadership and project teams

• Possession of a PhD degree from an accredited college or university according to the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). Foreign degrees must be evaluated for U.S. equivalency
• No work experience required beyond a Doctorate degree
• Experience in the experimental investigation and assessment of adverse drug effects at the cellular, biochemical, and/or molecular level
• Evidence of ability to convert experimental findings into scientific communications, such as peer‑reviewed publications or presentations at a national scientific conference
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills for presenting and articulating experimental findings and their conclusions to project teams and more general audiences
• Demonstrated contribution to publications in scientific journals
• Ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance

• Experience with validation and application of established in vitro assays, and/or the development of new ones, with robust analytical performance to quantify adverse drug effects
• Experience with sterile technique and cell culture of cell lines, primary human cells, and hiPSC‑derived cells
• Track record of accomplishments in investigative toxicology and/or pharmacology
• Know…