Senior Scientist Peptide Discovery at Basecamp Research · LumiJobs

Responsibilities

We are seeking a highly capable and proactive Senior Scientist, Peptide Discovery to join our Boston, MA team. This role reports to the Head of Gene Editing and Early Discovery and supports the experimental validation of AI-generated peptide candidates across multiple therapeutic programs — including but not limited to antifungal, antimicrobial, and cardiometabolic peptides — through cell culture-based functional, safety, and developability assays that directly inform our AI-guided peptide discovery pipeline.
Mammalian cell culture: Perform routine mammalian cell culture (e.g., HepG2, HEK293, CHO, or receptor-expressing stable cell lines).
Cytotoxicity/viability assays: Design and execute cell-based cytotoxicity/viability assays (e.g., CellTiter Blue or equivalent) in 96-well format.
Hemolysis assays: Run hemolysis assays using red blood cells to assess membrane-disruptive toxicity of peptide candidates.
Cell permeability assays: Run cell permeability assays to evaluate peptide membrane interaction and barrier penetration.
Immunogenicity risk assessment: Support immunogenicity risk assessment of peptide candidates, which may include in silico T-cell epitope prediction, PBMC-based cytokine release or proliferation assays.
GLP-1R activation assays: Run cell-based receptor activation assays for GLP-1 and related incretin peptide candidates, including cAMP accumulation assays (e.g., HTRF, ELISA-based, or luciferase reporter formats) in GLP-1R-expressing stable cell lines.
Stable cell line support: Support or help establish stable reporter/receptor cell lines (e.g., transfection, antibiotic selection, flow cytometry-based confirmation of receptor expression) for new peptide target classes.
Dose-response analysis: Generate and fit dose-response curves for potency (EC50) and safety (LC50, hemolytic/cytotoxic thresholds) endpoints.
Peptide handling: Prepare peptide stock and working solutions from synthesized peptides (crude and high-purity formulations) for cell-based testing.
Fungal susceptibility support: Support MIC-style fungal susceptibility assays (e.g., against Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Candida albicans, Candida auris, and Fusarium graminearum) following established protocols, as a smaller part of the overall workload.
Documentation: Maintain detailed, accurate lab notebooks and contribute to data summaries, figures, and reports.

Qualification

ExperienceCell culture expertiseFlow cytometryFunctional/signaling assaysMicrobiology (secondary)IndependenceHemolysis & Membrane-Toxicity AssaysProteolytic & Serum StabilityPermeability/Barrier ModelsImmunogenicity Risk ToolsAdvantageous Skills and ExperienceGLP-1R / Incretin Assays

Required

Experience: A PhD in molecular biology, biochemistry, microbiology, genetics, bioengineering, or a life-sciences related field, or an MSc with equivalent hands-on laboratory experience.
Cell culture expertise: Strong, demonstrated hands-on experience with mammalian cell culture (aseptic technique, cell line maintenance, viability/cytotoxicity assays).
Flow cytometry: Expertise in flow cytometry using both antibody panels and fluorescent reporters.
Functional/signaling assays: Experience with cell-based functional/signaling assays (e.g., cAMP, GPCR activation assays, reporter gene assays); GLP-1R experience specifically is a strong plus but not always required if you have transferable GPCR assay experience.
Microbiology (secondary): Basic familiarity with microbial/fungal handling, or willingness to be trained on it (not expected to be a core strength).
Independence: Ability to work independently on multi-step, multi-day assay timelines.
Hemolysis & Membrane-Toxicity Assays: Experience with hemolysis assays or other peptide membrane-toxicity screens.
Proteolytic & Serum Stability: Knowledge of how to set up assays tracking peptide half-life in human serum, plasma, or simulated physiological fluids.
Permeability/Barrier Models: Experience with permeability/barrier models or membrane permeabilization assays.
Immunogenicity Risk Tools: Experience with immunogenicity risk assessment tools — in silico epitope prediction software, PBMC-based assays.
Advantageous Skills and Experience
GLP-1R / Incretin Assays: Direct experience with GLP-1R or other incretin receptor cell-based assays (cAMP/HTRF, luciferase reporter, or similar), or experience generating and working with stable receptor-expressing cell lines.

Senior Scientist Peptide Discovery

Responsibilities

Qualification

Required

Benefits

Company

Basecamp Research

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