Senior Scientist, Stem Cell Neural Model Development

About Arc Institute

The Arc Institute is a new scientific institution that conducts curiosity-driven basic science and technology development to understand and treat complex human diseases. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Arc is an independent research organization founded on the belief that many important research programs will be enabled by new institutional models. Arc operates in partnership with Stanford University, UCSF, and UC Berkeley.

While the prevailing university research model has yielded many tremendous successes, we believe in the importance of institutional experimentation as a way to make progress. These include:

• Funding: Arc will fully fund Core Investigator’s (PI’s) research groups, liberating scientists from the typical constraints of project-based external grants.
• Technology: Biomedical research has become increasingly dependent on complex tooling. Arc Technology Centers develop, optimize and deploy rapidly advancing experimental and computational technologies in collaboration with Core Investigators. 
• Support: Arc aims to provide first-class support—operationally, financially and scientifically—that will enable scientists to pursue long-term high risk, high reward research that can meaningfully advance progress in disease cures, including neurodegeneration, cancer, and immune dysfunction.
• Culture: We believe that culture matters enormously in science and that excellence is difficult to sustain. We aim to create a culture that is focused on scientific curiosity, a deep commitment to truth, broad ambition, and selfless collaboration.

Arc scaled to nearly 100 people in its first year. With $650M+ in committed funding and a state of the art new lab facility in Palo Alto, Arc will continue to grow quickly to several hundred in the coming years.

About the position

We are seeking a highly skilled and motivated Senior Scientist with a strong background in neurodevelopmental biology to join the Stem Cell Platform team inside the Cellular Models Technology Center at Arc Institute. This position will play a critical role in developing and improving human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-based differentiation protocols for disease modeling and genetic screening applications. The successful candidate will lead projects focused on advancing our understanding of in vitro cell differentiation and brain model development applied to disease contexts, allowing the identification of potential therapeutic targets and driving innovation in the field.

About you

• You love science and the opportunities it creates. You find excitement in the opportunity to develop novel hPSC differentiation methodologies and in vitro brain models to address challenging questions in the field of neurodegeneration and find cellular and molecular pathways/targets directly responsible for disease phenotypes. 
• You are a collaborator. You’re an expert in your domain and you greatly enjoy working successfully with scientists from other teams, labs and scientific domains. You believe that working on projects with scientists from different backgrounds can lead to the most exciting and successful research.
• You are an optimizer. In science, there’s always a race against the clock. You care deeply about making every step of the way as close to perfect as possible but also as quick and efficient as possible. 

In this position you will

• Develop and improve protocols for generation of hPSC-derived cells, including neurons, astrocytes, microglia, and/or related cells. 
• Establish and implement novel in vitro 2D and 3D brain models leveraging expertise in neurodevelopmental biology to increase fidelity and representation of the human brain's complexity in the context of Alzheimer’s disease modeling.
• Execute cell-based, biochemical, and molecular biology assays to characterize and validate the identity and physiology of the differentiated cells and models.
• Contribute to the design and execution of genetic screens to develop new cell differentiation approaches, and to identify novel genetic factors, regulatory networks, and potential drug candidates associated with neurodegenerative diseases.
• Maintain accurate and detailed records of experimental protocols, results, and conclusions.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams at Arc to integrate in vitro brain models into broader research and technology development programs.
• Stay updated on the latest developments in the field of in vitro brain modeling, actively seeking out opportunities for innovation.
• Provide mentorship and guidance to research associates within the team.

Requirements

• Ph.D. in Neuroscience, Cell Biology or a related field with a minimum of 5+ years of postdoctoral experience in academia and/or industry.
• Strong focus and expertise on neurodevelopmental biology 
• Extensive hands-on experience developing and optimizing in vitro brain models for neurodevelopmental and/or neurodegenerative diseases.
• Demonstrated tissue culture experience, including knowledge of stem cells, progenitor cell handling, and differentiation into defined cell types including neurons, astrocytes, microglia, or oligodendrocytes. Human iPSC-models preferred.
• Troubleshooting experience, comparing, optimizing and validating protocols.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Demonstrated ability to work both independently and in a highly collaborative multidisciplinary environment.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to plan, execute, and deliver results on time.
• Ability to work some weekends as needed (days off can be swapped for weekdays).

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with CRISPR-Cas9 or other genome editing techniques.
• Experience and/or knowledge of high-throughput screening methodologies and applications.
• Experience making neural organoids.

The base salary range for this position is $131,750 to $162,750. These amounts reflect the range of base salary that the Institute reasonably would expect to pay a new hire or internal candidate for this position. The actual base compensation paid to any individual for this position may vary depending on factors such as experience, market conditions, education/training, skill level, and whether the compensation is internally equitable, and does not include bonuses, commissions, differential pay, other forms of compensation, or benefits. This position is also eligible to receive an annual discretionary bonus, with the amount dependent on individual and institute performance factors.