Company Summary:
Ring Therapeutics Inc. is a privately held, early-stage biotechnology company pioneering a completely novel form of gene therapy by exploiting a family of naturally occurring commensal viruses to create the first re-dosable and targetable DNA medicines. This approach enables a powerful new class of tropic, persistent, non-integrating vectors that overcome the immunogenicity, and limited tropism of existing gene therapy vectors. Ring Therapeutics is leveraging this versatile technology to develop a broad pipeline of novel, targeted medicines for disease with high unmet medical need.
Ring Therapeutics was founded by Flagship Pioneering, focused on launching breakthrough companies based on internally conceived innovations and insights. Flagship Pioneering has created over 40 groundbreaking companies over the past fifteen years, all of which are pioneering novel and proprietary biological, industrial, and engineering approaches to solve major needs in human health and sustainability. These companies include Seres Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MCRB), Moderna (MRNA), Syros Pharmaceuticals (SYRS), Rubius Therapeutics (RUBY), Axcella Health, Evelo Biosciences (EVLO), and Indigo Agriculture.
Position Summary:
Ring Therapeutics is seeking a Scientist to join the Viral Genomics team to help develop new DNA medicine technologies. The candidate will characterize newly discovered viruses in humans and animals, as well as investigate engineered viral vectors in animal models. The candidate will design experiments, perform experiments, analyze, and present data. The candidate will interface with equipment companies, research institutes/universities, and contract manufacturing organizations as required to accelerate the development effort. This will be a great opportunity to participate in cutting-edge virology, viral genomics, and synthetic biology. We are searching for enthusiastic and highly motivated individuals who are comfortable multitasking and working both with a team and independently on various aspects of the viral platform development.
Key Responsibilities:
- Design experiments, perform protocols, and analyze genomic sequencing data to characterize new viral vectors
- Study the molecular virology of novel human and/or animal viruses
- Regularly perform DNA/RNA extraction, PCR, RT-qPCR and library preparation for next-generation sequencing platforms (Illumina, MinION, PacBio, scRNA-seq)
- Interpret data, communicate findings, and lead troubleshooting with oversight from senior scientific personnel
- Supervise research associates supporting key research objectives
- Maintain lab notebooks, and report results to the scientific team
Minimum Qualifications:
- Ph.D. in virology, genomics, microbiology, or related field.
- 2-5 years of postdoctoral experience, in academic, pharmaceutical, or biotechnology settings.
- Experience with
- NGS library preparation and analysis pipelines, including metagenomics approaches
- animal models for virus infection
- classical virology techniques including virus culture and isolation
- molecular biology and recombinant DNA techniques
- Demonstrated ability to work with highly skilled teams in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial and technical environment.
- Excellent communication and presentation skills, capable of conveying technical information in a clear and thorough manner.
- Comfortable delivering against challenging commitments.
- Confident, execution focused, team oriented, with an ability to thrive in an entrepreneurial environment.