Postdoctoral Researcher

About the Company

The purpose of Idorsia is to discover, develop, and commercialize innovative medicines to help more patients.
Headquartered in Switzerland – a biotech-hub of Europe – Idorsia is a high-potential biopharmaceutical company, specialized in the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative small molecules, with the aim of transforming the horizon of therapeutic options.

We are now looking for a highly motivated Postdoctoral Researcher in CNS Biology/Pharmacology to join our Biological Sciences Group

Job Responsibilities

To strengthen our mode-of-action and disease biology characterization efforts in CNS biology/pharmacology, we are offering a Postdoc position for a highly motivated neurobiologist. The successful candidate will have solid experience with hiPSC-derived neuronal cocultures, as well as basic knowledge of neuronal circuit modeling and analysis. In this role you will investigate the effect of innovative therapeutic agents in neuronal co-culture models of disease using a broad array of readouts. You will complement this with data generated in in vivo disease models.

Responsibilities include :

• Design, perform, analyze, and interpret experiments in iPSC-derived neuronal co-cultures to characterize innovative therapeutic agents for CNS drug discovery
• Set up and optimize electrophysiology, omics, biochemical and immunocytochemistry assays of neuronal cocultures for mechanism-of-action studies
• Introduce disease-causing mutations into iPSC cells (CRISPR) to generate and characterize co-culture-based disease models for above experiments
• Design, perform, analyze, and interpret experiments in rodent CNS disease models
• Set-up autism-relevant behavioral pharmacology assays
• Responsible for efficient planning, detailed analysis, and accurate documentation of experiments
• Presentation of results in a multidisciplinary company environment
• Prepare publication of results in peer reviewed journal.
• Together with colleagues from the scientific computing group, experimentally test and refine computational models for predicted contributions of innovative therapeutic agents to neuronal activity
• Follow novel developments in the field and evaluate application opportunities for CNS drug discovery
• Interact with biologists, pharmacologists, chemists, and computer scientists to drive innovation and advance drug discovery projects

Candidate’s Requirements

• PhD degree in neuroscience or related areas
• Proven track record of generating, optimizing, working with and analyzing hiPSC derived neuronal co-cultures
• Hands-on experience in using multi-electrode arrays for recordings from hiPSC-derived neurons and pharmacological manipulations of the culture conditions
• Practical knowledge of in-vitro and in-vivo models of autism is highly advantageous
• Wet lab experience with current molecular biology tools (e.g. CRISPR) is advantageous
• Hands-on experience with current techniques of rodent handling, substance application, tissue sampling, and behavioral pharmacology
• Solid knowledge of the neurobiology underlying autism spectrum disorders
• A good understanding of ion channels and GPCRs, neuroscience drug discovery, and extensive knowledge of electrophysiology and pharmacology
• Self-starter with strong problem-solving skills and the ability to work independently
• Enthusiasm, flexibility, and ability to work in a diverse and interdisciplinary environment
• Fluency in English (verbal and written)
• Active LTK license for Switzerland (or FELASA equivalent)

Work Location: Allschwil – Basel Area
Country: Switzerland
Business Area: Biological Sciences
Schedule: Fulltime
Job Type: Postdoc Programme
Job ID: 4827

At Idorsia, we harness the power of difference, authenticity and inclusion to achieve business success. We are committed to fostering respect, fairness and equal opportunities for all job applicants and all our employees.  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against based on disability.

Please be informed that if you are selected for this position, your employment will be subject to a pre-employment background screening process, of which you will be informed in greater detail in due course.

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