Adaptive Neuroimmunology Senior Discovery Scientist

Roche fosters diversity, equity and inclusion, representing the communities we serve. When dealing with healthcare on a global scale, diversity is an essential ingredient to success. We believe that inclusion is key to understanding people’s varied healthcare needs. Together, we embrace individuality and share a passion for exceptional care. Join Roche, where every voice matters.

The Position

A healthier future. It’s what drives us to innovate. To continuously advance science and ensure everyone has access to the healthcare they need today and for generations to come. Creating a world where we all have more time with the people we love.

That’s what makes us Roche.

In Roche’s Pharmaceutical Research and Early Development organization (pRED ), we make transformative medicines for patients in order to tackle some of the world’s toughest unmet healthcare needs. At pRED, we are united by our mission to transform science into medicines. Together, we create a culture defined by curiosity, responsibility and humility, where our talented people are empowered and inspired to bring forward extraordinary life-changing innovation at speed.

The Position

Within Roche’s Pharma Research and Early Development (pRED), Neuroscience & Rare Diseases (NRD) represents a major focus area where we are committed to realizing our long-term vision of changing lives of patients with severe brain disorders. The position will have a strong focus on adaptive immune responses in the CNS. A major focus of the Neuroimmunology drug discovery team is to explore mechanisms leading to and resolving neuroinflammatory processes in order to develop novel therapies for neurodegenerative disorders. The successful candidate will work in an industry-leading Neuroscience department with an attractive portfolio of preclinical and clinical stage projects in CNS disorders.

The opportunity

• Exploring next generation molecules and therapeutic space for neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory diseases with a focus on leptomeningeal inflammation and contribution to new target and clinically relevant pharmacodynamic biomarker discovery.

• Based in the laboratory (requires 50% experimental handling), you will develop complex experimental models such as human organoid systems (e.g. lymph node and/or iPSC-based models) and human T cell functional assays to evaluate and validate mechanisms of action and potency of therapeutic compounds.

• Lead pharmacology studies for compound characterization in neuroinflammatory and humanized in vivo models which require animal handling, dosing, biofluid and tissue collection, biomarker and histology analyses.

• Handle and characterize immune cell infiltrates (e.g. T cells) and tissue-resident immune cells (e.g. microglia) in human and rodent CNS tissue by applying techniques including immunohistochemistry, high-parameter flow cytometry, spatial transcriptomics, immune repertoire and molecular biology techniques.

• Manage setup and conduct of academic collaborations as well as outsourcing of in vitro and in vivo studies to external service providers ensuring high quality.

• As Biology Lead of discovery projects, lead and contribute from target selection to nomination of lead candidate molecules and transition into clinical development in the area of adaptive neuroimmunology where you will have the possibility to become a Research Project Leader. Presenting data at project team, departmental and governance meetings and mentoring research associates and interns working in neuroimmunology.

Who you are:

• PhD in neuroscience/neuroimmunology, immunology or other relevant discipline, ideally with a minimum of 4 years of relevant research experience in an academic setting and/or pharmaceutical industry/biotech sector.

• In depth knowledge of human and translational immunology, in particular B- and T cell biology, is a prerequisite, ideally experienced in human functional assays, multiomic based techniques and analysis such as multiparameter flow cytometry, spatial tissue profiling/high content imaging and/or immune repertoire.

• Hands-on experience with tissue samples, incl. human organoid systems and brain tissue handling, processing, molecular characterization of immune cell infiltrates and tissue-resident immune cells.

• Certification for performing in vivo animal experiments (eg. LTK1) required. Expertise in in vivo animal dosing, perfusion, tissue collection and preparation for histology, biochemical and immunoassays.

• You independently design, execute, and analyze experiments. Your accomplishments and successful collaborations are documented by publications in journals and/or patents. You are a team player with a strong sense of accountability, willingness to learn and an enthusiastic proactive attitude.

Your Location

This position is based in Basel, Switzerland

Our commitment

Roche commits to recognising talent and aptitude. We prioritise encouraging and supporting our employees on their personal journeys by providing a safe, creative space to help them reflect, make decisions and grow in their career.

We are confident that we find the most innovative solutions by gaining different perspectives, asking and answering hard questions, and challenging the status quo. Roche embraces diversity and equal opportunity in a serious yet enthusiastic way; we are devoted to building a team that represents a range of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. The more inclusive we are, the better our work will be.

Who we are

At Roche, more than 100,000 people across 100 countries are pushing back the frontiers of healthcare. Working together, we’ve become one of the world’s leading research-focused healthcare groups. Our success is built on innovation, curiosity and diversity.

Basel is the headquarters of the Roche Group and one of its most important centres of pharmaceutical research. Over 10,700 employees from over 100 countries come together at our Basel/Kaiseraugst site, which is one of Roche`s largest sites. Read more .

Besides extensive development and training opportunities, we offer flexible working options, 18 weeks of maternity leave and 10 weeks of gender independent partnership leave. Our employees also benefit from multiple services on site such as child-care facilities, medical services, restaurants and cafeterias, as well as various employee events.

We believe in the power of diversity and inclusion, and strive to identify and create opportunities that enable all people to bring their unique selves to Roche.