Location: Cambridge, MA;
About Merck:
Merck & Co., Inc. Kenilworth, N.J., U.S.A. known as Merck in the United States and Canada, is a global health care leader with a diversified portfolio of prescription medicines, vaccines, and animal health products. The difference between potential and achievement lies in the spark that fuels innovation and inventiveness; this is the space where Merck has codified its legacy for over a century. Merck’s success is backed by ethical integrity, forward momentum, and an inspiring mission to achieve new milestones in global healthcare.
Merck is on a quest for cures and is committed to being the world’s premier, most research-intensive biopharmaceutical company. Today, we’re doubling down on this goal. Merck Research Laboratories is a true scientific research facility of tomorrow and will take Merck’s leading discovery capabilities and world-class small molecule and biologics R&D expertise to create breakthrough science that radically changes the way we approach serious diseases.
The mission of the Genome Sciences team is to develop high-throughput cutting-edge genomic technologies to better understand disease mechanism and to accelerate the discovery of new targets and biomarkers across therapeutic areas. Our group utilizes innovative genetic screening (CRISPR) and multi-omics single cell sequencing approaches (Optical pooled screening, CROP-seq/Perturb-Seq, and Spatial Transcriptomics) to impact all stages of the pipeline from pre-clinical to clinical development.
We are looking for a passionate and talented scientist with experience in cell and molecular biology and interested in learning about high-throughput genomic technologies, CRISPR screening and high content imaging.
Start Date: 9/3/24
Project Title – Testing and optimizing Optical pooled screening technology for high-throughput genomic screens
Abstract
In recent years, the integration of imaging techniques with CRISPR technology has resulted in the emergence of Optical Pooled Screening (OPS). The primary objective of this project is to optimize OPS technology for high-throughput screening. The project involves testing new advances of OPS technology in various cell lines to identify the optimal conditions for fluorescence microscopy and CRISPR editing. The optimization and implementation of these technologies would enable larger scale screens across complex, disease relevant models, including iPSC-derived and primary cells. These efforts would accelerate drug discovery efforts, impacting multiple disease areas.
Academic disciplines considered: Bioengineering/Biotechnology/Cell and Molecular Biology or related fields
Knowledge, Skills, and Attributes Required:
- Hands on experience in cell biology, assay development, fluorescence microscopy and molecular biology.
- Highly self-motivated and capable of prioritizing deliverables among multiple simultaneous projects
- Candidates must have excellent academic achievement and analytical ability.
- Candidates must have demonstrated superior communication and interpersonal skills and must be able to work well in a collaborative team environment.
Competencies Preferred / Required:
- Mammalian cell culture.
- Generation of stable-cell lines
- Immunofluorescence
- Fluorescence microscopy
- Molecular biology
- Preferred – Experience working with one or more of the following tools- CellProfiler, FIJI/ImageJ, SImA, Harmony, HALO, or other image analysis programs.
