Senior / Principal Research Associate, In Vivo Studies

Responsibilities

• Support the design, planning, and execution of in vivo rodent studies evaluating delivery, biodistribution, editing efficiency, pharmacodynamic activity, tolerability, and related preclinical endpoints.
• Perform hands-on in vivo study activities under approved protocols, which may include animal handling, dosing support, clinical observations, body weight tracking, sample collection, necropsy support, and tissue harvest.
• Prepare study materials, dosing solutions, collection supplies, labels, chain-of-custody documentation, and sample inventories to ensure studies run smoothly and reproducibly.
• Process blood, plasma, serum, bone marrow, spleen, liver, and other tissues for downstream molecular, cellular, and protein-based analyses, including nucleic acid and protein extraction workflows.
• Cook up with internal scientists and external partners or CROs to align study timelines, protocols, sample logistics, data transfers, and documentation requirements.
• Maintain accurate electronic and paper study records, including protocols, worksheets, sample maps, deviations, reagent logs, and raw data consistent with data integrity and reproducibility expectations.
• Analyze and summarize study observations and sample metadata; contribute to interpretation of in vivo results in the context of program goals.
• Contribute to protocol development, study reports, SOPs, and continuous improvement of in vivo operations and sample-processing workflows.
• Present study updates, operational risks, and key results in team meetings; collaborate cross-functionally with Translational Research, Delivery, Editing, and broader research teams.
• Mentor or train junior team members on study preparation, sample handling, documentation practices, and relevant laboratory workflows as appropriate for level.

Qualifications

• BS or MS in biology, pharmacology, molecular biology, biomedical sciences, veterinary technology, or a related discipline, with approximately 5-6 years of relevant hands-on research experience in industry or an equivalent research setting.
• Direct experience supporting in vivo rodent studies, including study setup, animal handling, dosing support or study procedures, sample collection, tissue harvest, and post-collection processing.
• Strong understanding of in vivo study execution, sample traceability, protocol adherence, and the importance of accurate, contemporaneous documentation.
• Hands-on experience with downstream tissue and sample processing for molecular, cellular, or protein-based assays such as qPCR / RT-qPCR, ddPCR, ELISA, flow cytometry, Western blot / Jess, sequencing, or related analytical readouts.
• Ability to plan daily study activities, anticipate operational needs, troubleshoot issues, and communicate risks or deviations promptly.
• Comfort working in a fast-paced, cross-functional research environment with changing program priorities and multiple concurrent studies.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills; comfortable summarizing study status, sample inventories, observations, and data for a scientific audience.
• Commitment to high-quality animal care, ethical research practices, and compliance with approved study protocols, SOPs, and institutional requirements.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting in vivo studies for gene editing, nucleic acid therapeutics, cell or gene therapy, biologics, or targeted delivery platforms.
• Experience with LNP-based, antibody-based, receptor-targeted, or other delivery technologies in preclinical models.
• Familiarity with biodistribution, pharmacodynamic, toxicology, or translational biomarker study designs.
• Experience with common rodent dosing or sampling routes such as IV, IP, SC, PO, retro-orbital, submandibular, tail vein, or terminal cardiac collection, as applicable to approved protocols.
• Experience processing hematopoietic tissues or working with bone marrow, spleen, peripheral blood, HSC / HSPC biology, immune-cell phenotyping, or flow cytometry workflows.
• Experience coordinating external CRO studies, shipping biological samples, managing sample manifests, or reconciling datasets across internal and external teams.
• Familiarity with electronic lab notebooks, study management systems, animal facility systems, or inventory / sample tracking tools.
• Prior experience supporting IND-enabling, GLP-like, or regulated preclinical studies.