2025 Ophthalmology Discovery Research Intern

AbbVie's mission is to discover and deliver innovative medicines and solutions that solve serious health issues today and address the medical challenges of tomorrow. We strive to have a remarkable impact on people's lives across several key therapeutic areas – immunology, oncology, neuroscience, and eye care – and products and services in our Allergan Aesthetics portfolio. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at www.abbvie.com. Follow @abbvie on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn. 

Ophthalmology Discovery Research Internship Overview

Envision spending your summer working with energetic colleagues and inspirational leaders, all while gaining world-class experience in one of the most dynamic organizations in the pharmaceutical industry. This is a reality for AbbVie Interns.

The AbbVie Ocular Discovery Research group is seeking an accomplished intern with a broad scientific skillset to make substantial contributions to our retina disease research and discovery efforts developing therapies for sight-threatening disease. The intern will execute, develop, and communicate experiments for target identification/validation and discovery of novel therapeutics using a variety of retina disease based in vitro models.  The successful candidate will leverage their oncology experience to find answers to scientific questions and move projects forward. They should be a highly motivated, hands-on experimentalist who is also capable of executing scientific projects. Emphasis is on the ability to successfully perform hands-on work, demonstrate scientific skills, and interact in a team environment. Prior experience in the fields of oncology, ophthalmology, retinal degeneration, or vision research is beneficial, but not required.  In addition, the candidate should have a strong track record of cross-functional collaborations along with excellent oral and written communication skills.

Key responsibilities include:

• Executing developed retina disease relevant in vitro models to inform target biology and evaluate structural and functional endpoints.
• Validating pathways associated with targets of interest to contribute to building new discovery pipeline projects.
• Generating high-quality experimental data to identify and confirm the mechanism of action of lead compounds, antibodies, and gene therapies identified through target discovery efforts.
• Presenting data and findings across various platforms, including project teams and extended research and discovery organization meetings.
• Using decision making, organization and communication skills to effectively collaborate with colleagues from cross-functional teams.
• Maintain an up-to-date understanding of new technologies and relevant scientific advances in support of our research goals. 

This internship will be based in Irvine, CA.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Currently enrolled in university, pursuing a PhD in cell biology, oncology, pharmacology or other related field.
• Must be enrolled in university for at least one semester following the internship.
• Hand-on experimental experience of 3+ years with a track record of applying molecular biology and biochemistry approaches.
• In vitro assay development experience is required.  Protein based quantitation methods are desirable (Luminex, MSD, ELISA, Western blot, Flow cytometry, etc.)
• Must be able to multitask effectively and be adaptable and flexible to meet changing priorities.
• Demonstrate high degree of flexibility in adapting to different projects and personalities as well as excellent networking and relationship-building skills (both internal and external.)
• Must have excellent written and oral communication skills to deliver project updates and summaries.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Expected graduation date between December 2025 – June 2026.
• Exposure to oncology, ophthalmology, retinal degeneration, and/or vision research.
• Drug development experience in a pharmaceutical or biotech industry setting is highly desired.

Benefits and Amenities

• Competitive pay.
• Relocation support for eligible students.
• Select wellness benefits and paid holiday / sick time.

Equal Employment Opportunity 

At AbbVie, we value bringing together individuals from diverse backgrounds to develop new and innovative solutions for patients. As an equal opportunity employer, we do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex (including pregnancy), physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, protected veteran status, or any other legally protected characteristic. 

Applicable only to applicants applying to a position in any location with pay disclosure requirements under state or local law: ​

• The compensation range described below is the range of possible base pay compensation that the Company believes in good faith it will pay for this role at the time of this posting based on the job grade for this position. Individual compensation paid within this range will depend on many factors including geographic location, and we may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range. This range may be modified in the future.​

Note: No amount of pay is considered to be wages or compensation until such amount is earned, vested, and determinable. The amount and availability of any bonus, commission, incentive, benefits, or any other form of compensation and benefits that are allocable to a particular employee remains in the Company's sole and absolute discretion unless and until paid and may be modified at the Company’s sole and absolute discretion, consistent with applicable law. ​

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AbbVie is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to operating with integrity, driving innovation, transforming lives, serving our community and embracing diversity and inclusion.  It is AbbVie’s policy to employ qualified persons of the greatest ability without discrimination against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex (including pregnancy), physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, status as a protected veteran, or any other legally protected group status.

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