In Vivo Immunologist - DJS Antibodies (An AbbVie Company)

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. 

• Based at the vibrant research community of Oxford.
• Comprehensive benefits package.
• Amazing career opportunities in a growing division with exceptional training.

About DJS Antibodies:

At DJS Antibodies, we aspire to create new medicines to improve the lives of patients with serious immunological diseases and cancers. We achieve this by using our proprietary HEPTAD platform to deliver therapeutic antibodies against complex and intractable membrane protein targets. As a biotech company within AbbVie, we combine the agility, team spirit and scientific focus of a biotech with the reach and vision of a global pharmaceutical company. We have discovered a number of drug candidates to date, and continue to grow our exciting portfolio.

Role overview:

This role will span mechanistic biology, pharmacology, target selection and antibody discovery. The primary focus will be to develop an understanding of the background biology and signal transduction pathways of the proteins targeted by candidate antibodies, and then design and conduct experiments using in vivo and in vitro systems to dissect the pharmacology and mechanism of action of the candidate antibodies. This will inform disease positioning, rational drug combinations, dose selection, clinical biomarker selection, and future target selection. In line with this, the role will connect back to our discovery group, inputting into the identification of targets for new discovery programs. There will also be a role to play in the antibody discovery process, particularly implementation and development of our animal immunization technologies.

The successful applicant should have a track record of immunology research in industry or academia. They will be an experimentalist, skilled at interpreting insights from the literature and translating them into actionable experiments. Day-to-day, they will work collaboratively in project teams who are focussed on different programs at different stages of the R&D process. They should therefore be keen to get involved with all aspects of research at DJS. This will necessitate clear communication and excellent time management. Alongside organisational skills, however, they must enjoy adapt to changing priorities in a fast-paced environment.

At DJS, we want to foster innovative scientists performing drug-discover led by cutting-edge science. In this role the successful candidate will develop knowledge across mechanistic biology, pharmacology, and early discovery with visibility across our portfolio of early discovery through to clinical-stage drug candidates. As such this role will bring many career development opportunities. These are extended further by our unique position within AbbVie, which allows access into a much broader, world-leading drug development pipeline and learnings about broader pharmaceutical business.

Key Responsibilities:

• Establish and implement in vivo and in vitro experimental models for assessing antibody pharmacology and mode of action
• Work closely with the animal project licence holder to design study plans and keep meticulous records of in vivo experiments
• Bringing energy, enthusiasm and positivity to the company
• Engaging with the literature to build deep understanding of target biology
• Perform critical laboratory experiments and analysis to develop and extend existing methodologies
• Mentor junior scientists from the bench side in new and novel immunological techniques and methodologies
• Act as a go-to expert for in vivo studies and preclinical immunology
• Keeping up-to-date with latest developments in immunology by reading literature and attending conferences
• Contribute ideas and suggestions to all DJS programs
• Gather, analyse and present data from a variety of sources to the wider team and organization
• Critical and impartial review of self- and peer-generated laboratory data to create tangible actions
• Maintenance of laboratory experimental records

Qualifications and Experience:

• A PhD in Immunology or a related field or equivalent level of experience
• Have a passion for in vitro and in vivo immunology and translational biology
• Have previously held a UK PIL licence (or equivalent) with experience in executing in vivo studies in pre-clinical models
• Enthusiasm and commitment to drug development research
• Proven expertise and experience in:
  • Establishing in vivo models for inflammatory disorders
  • Performing in vivo immunology experiments in experimental rodents
  • Secondary ex vivo cell-based assays (such as, for example, FACS/cell sorting, imaging, ELISA/MSD, Western-blot and omics-based approaches such as RNA-seq)
  • Statistical analysis, power calculations and experimental design

Desirable Skills and Experience: 

• Working with preclinical models for therapeutic antibody development
• Building and maintaining collaborative networks of researchers across multiple organisations
• Working within an industrial setting on a drug development program
• Establishing assays with primary cells, working with organoids or organ on a chip models
• Performing high-throughput assays
• Working with contract research organisations
• Antibody binding techniques; ELISA, FACS, SPR etc.
• Evidence of excellent organizational and interpersonal skills including
  • work both independently and as part of a team
  • Ability to work efficiently with strong attention to detail
  • Ability to build effective working relationships within large organisations and across different time zones
  • Laboratory method development
  • Ability to work flexible hours when required
  • Proven written and oral communicative ability
  • Problem-solving skills
  • Strong IT skills
• Flexible and adaptable with an all-inclusive goal-orientated mindset

AbbVie 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.