Scientist, Research Scientist, Clinical Research

Company Overview

Neurona Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company based in South San Francisco focused on the development of allogeneic cell-based therapies for neurological diseases.

Neurona’s lead product candidate, NRTX-1001, comprising GABAergic interneurons, offers a novel approach that is not tissue-destructive for the potential treatment of drug-resistant focal epilepsy. NRTX-1001 is currently being studied for safety and efficacy in two ongoing open label multicenter, Phase 1/2 trials: NCT for drug-resistant unilateral mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE), and NCT for drug-resistant bilateral MTLE. Neurona plans to initiate the Phase 3 EPIC (EPIlepsy Cell Therapy) trial in 2H 2025.

The Phase 3 EPIC trial will be for patients with drug-resistant unilateral MTLE with mesial temporal sclerosis.

• Perform cell culture experiments using directed neuronal differentiation from human PSCs
• Collaborate with teammates to develop and optimize next-generation cell products with enhanced characteristics (composition, potency, maturation)
• Develop cell-based assays to test and validate hypotheses for mechanism of action studies
• Apply gene editing, viral gene delivery, and/or chemical screens to develop neuronal cell products
• Characterize cell products (immunocytochemistry, Flow cytometry, RT-QPCR, RNA sequencing assays)
• Design, plan and execute experiments using single cell RNA sequencing pipeline
• Conduct fluorescence and/or magnetic-activated cell sorting experiments
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams from discovery, process, and preclinical departments
• Maintain detailed records, perform data analysis, and report results during team meetings
• Willing to work a limited number of hours overtime and/or on weekends

• PhD with up to 3 years of relevant experience or Masters degree with 6-8 years of relevant experience in pluripotent stem cell biology, Neuroscience or related field (Molecular/Cell/Developmental Biology)
• Hands on experience with sterile mammalian cell culture, human pluripotent stem cell (hIPSC/hESC) culture, in vitro differentiation and neuronal cell culture
  
  Expertise in histochemical techniques and microscopy
• Expertise in high content screening microscopy, creation of image analysis algorithms for both fixed samples and for live imaging
• Expertise in lab automation and in vitro assay miniaturization
• Experience in gene delivery, including viral transduction with LV/AAV
• Excellent analytical skills, critical thinking, and problem solving
• Superb organizational skills and attention to detail
• Willingness to learn, expand skill set and contribute to a highly dynamic start-up environment
• Ability to deliver within fast-paced timelines
• High integrity, excellent written, verbal and interpersonal communication skills
• Strong team player, able to work on teams and independently
• Proven scientific achievements evidenced by high-impact publication record
• Able to take initiative to improve work processes, develop innovative scientific methodologies and approaches to enhance research productivity

• Knowledge in neuroscience and human developmental biology
• Experience in high content microscopy and multiparametric data analysis
• Experience in bioinformatics, coding, R, python is a plus
• Experience in calcium imaging and/or multi-electrode arrays is a plus