Postdoctoral Scientist - Neurodegeneration
About the role
Lilly Neuroscience NGTx is a pre-clinical development team based at the Seaport Innovation Center in Boston alongside Lilly's Boston Neurodegeneration group. The team develops and applies human iPSC-derived in vitro platforms to evaluate compound safety, potency, and efficacy across CNS therapeutic modalities. These platforms are a critical node in Lilly's neuroscience pre-clinical pipeline, supporting high-priority programs targeting amyloid forming proteins across Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and other neurodegenerative conditions. This postdoctoral position will extend the established tri-culture system into disease-relevant pathological contexts, creating a pharmacologically responsive platform for compound assessment in neurodegeneration.
Responsibilities
The postdoctoral researcher will lead establishment of amyloid forming protein pathology models in a human iPSC-derived tri-culture system (neurons, astrocytes, microglia). They will also apply those disease-context models to assess therapeutic compound behavior across Lilly's neuroscience modalities. Specific responsibilities include:
- Establish seed and preformed fibril (PFF)-based pathology models in the iPSC tri-culture system for multiple amyloid forming proteins, characterizing seeding efficiency, aggregate formation, and timing parameters for each.
- Perform systematic mono- vs. co- vs. tri-culture comparisons to quantify the multicellular gain in neurotoxicity and neuroinflammatory responses across culture configurations.
- Characterize microglial activation and cytokine release profiles (multiplex MSD cytokine profiling) and neurotoxicity in response to pathological insults.
- Execute a systematic species-ranking study comparing aggregate forms of amyloid forming proteins (monomers, oligomers, and fibrillar preparations) for neurotoxic and neuroinflammatory potency in the human multicellular context.
- Evaluate publishable tool compounds (siRNAs, antibodies) and internal proprietary compounds for potency, cellular uptake, and safety in healthy vs. pathological tri-culture.
- Generate paired healthy vs. disease-context datasets to directly compare compound behavior, providing decision-support data for LRL neurodegeneration programs.
- Publish as first author and present findings at internal and external forums.
Basic requirements
- PhD in Neuroscience, Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, or a closely related field.
- Demonstrated hands-on experience with iPSC culture and/or primary neuron culture systems.
- Prior experience with in vitro neurodegenerative disease modeling, including PFF seeding, protein aggregation assays, or amyloid forming protein biology.
- Qualified applicants must be authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis. Lilly will not provide support for or sponsor work authorization or visas for this role, including but not limited to F-1 CPT, F-1 OPT, F-1 STEM OPT, J-1, H-1B, TN, O-1, E-3, H-1B1, or L-1.
Additional skills and preferences
- Experience with neuronal co- or tri-culture systems incorporating glia (astrocytes and/or microglia).
- Proficiency in high-content imaging, immunofluorescence (ICC-IF), and image analysis pipelines.
- Prior work with neuroinflammation assays, including multiplex cytokine profiling (e.g., MSD, Luminex).
- Experience with CNS therapeutic modality assessment (siRNAs, antibodies, or small molecules in cell-based assays).
- Proven ability to independently design, execute, and troubleshoot multi-parametric cell-based experiments.
- Demonstrated scientific productivity, including peer-reviewed publications.
- Strong collaborative instincts and interest in translational drug discovery in an industry setting.
Compensation and benefits
- Actual compensation will depend on a candidate's education, experience, skills, and geographic location. The anticipated wage for this position is $58,000 - $123,200.
- Full-time equivalent employees also will be eligible for a company bonus (depending, in part, on company and individual performance).
- Lilly offers a comprehensive benefit program to eligible employees, including eligibility to participate in a company-sponsored 401(k); pension; vacation benefits; eligibility for medical, dental, vision and prescription drug benefits; flexible benefits (e.g., healthcare and/or dependent day care flexible spending accounts); life insurance and death benefits; certain time off and leave of absence benefits; and well-being benefits (e.g., employee assistance program, fitness benefits, and employee clubs and activities).