Postdoctoral Fellow, Immunology

Who We Are

23andMe, the leading consumer genetics and research company, has accumulated a wealth of genotypic and phenotypic information from participants committed to improving human health through advances in genomics. Our Therapeutics team in South San Francisco leverages this data to discover and develop new treatments that can offer significant benefits for patients with serious, unmet medical needs.

This dedicated research and drug development group identifies novel targets using 23andMe's genetic database and performs preclinical research to advance programs towards clinical development. We currently have programs across several therapeutic areas, including but not limited to oncology, immunology, and cardiovascular diseases. More information about our Therapeutics team is available at https://therapeutics.23andme.com/.

23andMe has committed to the initiation of a postdoctoral fellowship program that would create opportunities to utilize the 23andMe human genetics platform to conduct cutting-edge science and explore novel biology.  Six inaugural fellowships are being offered within the Therapeutics division.  The postdoctoral fellow will be expected to focus on innovative, genetics or biological research questions with a goal of presenting their work externally at scientific meetings and publishing in top-ranked peer-reviewed journals.  This opportunity will allow postdoctoral fellows to gain exposure to the biotechnology industry to either pursue a career in industry or bring the industry perspective back to an academic career. The fellowships are for a three-year period, with an optional one-year extension. 

Project summary

We are seeking a creative, rigorous and independent Postdoctoral Fellow to advance our understanding of the roles of regulatory RNAs in immune disease. The successful candidate will be skilled at posing impactful scientific questions and addressing them with a broad range of computational, molecular, cellular, and in vivo approaches.

What You’ll Do

• Utilize bioinformatics approaches to identify immune disease-associated regulatory RNAs by combining GWAS data, expression analysis and literature review
• Design and conduct in silico, in vitro and in vivo experiments to validate the role of regulatory RNAs in immune cells and study their MOA in disease-relevant models
• Maintain compliance with all company policies and procedures

What You’ll Bring

• Ph.D. in Immunology, Cell Biology or related field with demonstrated scientific accomplishments including impactful peer-reviewed publications
• Advanced biology laboratory skills, with demonstrated proficiency in biochemical, immunological and cell biology techniques
• Experience utilizing computational biology approaches for analyzing genomic and expression data sets is highly desirable
• Experience validating the functional role of non-coding RNAs is a plus
• Excellent communication and writing skills as well as a track record of working in highly collaborative environments are a must

Mentors

Dr. Louise Scharf’s Bio

Louise Scharf is a Senior Scientist in the Discovery Biology group at 23andMe Therapeutics. Her team is focused on the discovery of novel immune-related therapeutic targets utilizing expertise in immunology, cell biology, biochemistry and biophysics. Her team leads several drug discovery programs to address unmet needs in the treatment of immune diseases. Prior to joining 23andMe 6 years ago, Louise trained as a postdoctoral fellow in Pamela Bjorkman's lab at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) studying the interplay between HIV immunogenicity and the evolution of broadly neutralizing antibodies to engineer improved antibody-based therapeutics and vaccine immunogens. She earned her Ph.D. for her work on the molecular basis of self and foreign lipid antigen presentation by 𝛾𝛿 T cells in Erin Adams’ lab at the University of Chicago. Louise has co-authored over 20 peer-reviewed publications and is an inventor on 6 patents.

Dr. Patrick Collins’ Bio

Patrick Collins is the Director of Functional Genomics at 23andMe Therapeutics. His group is focused on variant to gene to function mapping of genome-wide association signals utilizing genomic perturbation and a variety of bulk and single-cell next generation sequencing techniques. Patrick joined 23andMe Therapeutics two years after spending almost nine years at Amgen in the Genome Analysis Unit applying functional genomics to target and therapeutic discovery for cardiometabolic disease and immune oncology. Patrick’s interest in understanding non-coding regions of the genome dates back to work he did at SwitchGear Genomics as a data production lead for NHGRI’s Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) project. SwitchGear Genomics was founded by former students from Rick Myers’ lab in the Genetics Department at Stanford University where Patrick earned his Ph.D. studying transcriptional regulation of clustered and bidirectional genes. Patrick has co-authored over 13 peer-reviewed publications and is an inventor on 3 patents.

About Us

23andMe, headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA, is a leading consumer genetics and research company. Founded in 2006, the company’s mission is to help people access, understand, and benefit from the human genome. 23andMe has pioneered direct access to genetic information as the only company with multiple FDA authorizations for genetic health risk reports. The company has created the world’s largest crowdsourced platform for genetic research, with 80 percent of its customers electing to participate. The platform also powers the 23andMe Therapeutics group, currently pursuing drug discovery programs rooted in human genetics across a spectrum of disease areas, including oncology, respiratory, and cardiovascular diseases, in addition to other therapeutic areas. More information is available at www.23andMe.com.

At 23andMe, we value a diverse, inclusive workforce and we provide equal employment opportunity for all applicants and employees. All qualified applicants for employment will be considered without regard to an individual’s race, color, sex, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, physical or mental disability, medical condition, family care status, marital status, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, genetic information, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by federal, state or local laws.  If you are unable to submit your application because of incompatible assistive technology or a disability, please contact us at accommodations-ext@23andme.com. 23andMe will reasonably accommodate qualified individuals with disabilities to the extent required by applicable law.

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