Senior Scientist - Cancer Biology & Drug Testing
VitroScan – Better Informed Treatment Decisions for cancer patients
VitroScan is a Dutch biotech company founded in 2016 and based at the Leiden Bio Science Park. VitroScan develops fast and accurate predictive testing for multiple cancers and treatments to support better informed treatment decisions for cancer patients.
Treatment decisions for cancer patients become increasingly more complex. Innovative new treatment strategies, including immunotherapy, and cellular therapies have the potential to offer a great benefit to cancer patients. While established treatments already improved the care for cancer patients for a long time. In this continuously changing landscape, diagnostics are crucial to delivering the best treatment for each individual patient. VitroScan develops fast and accurate predictive testing for multiple cancers and treatments.
Our unique technology platform uses high-content 3D imaging for sensitive detection of therapeutic responses. The analysis is based on the generation of a 3D image stack of the tumor tissue in the assay, followed by segmentation, and subsequent feature extraction for representation of the drug response. A growing database is correlating ex vivo drug sensitivity and clinical outcomes for several cancer types.
The team consists of successful entrepreneurs, experts in the fields of bioinformatics, computer vision, programming, and 3D cell culture and drug testing, with extensive networks in fields of clinical oncology, pharma, and (bio) information technology.
Position:
We are seeking a highly motivated Senior Scientist to head our scientific program and growing cell biology team. The Senior Scientist will be leading the ex vivo drug testing program in the context of ongoing clinical trials and shape the development of our technology towards implementation in the clinic.
The Senior Scientist will be responsible for the planning, execution, and development of R&D projects in collaboration with the cancer biology and bioinformatics team members.
In addition, the Senior Scientist will participate in the lab team to manage sample processing and drug screening of patient samples that are collected in several ongoing clinical trials. For this, the Senior Scientist will actively participate in the lab, share duties, and plan tasks for (unpredictable) new patient samples.
The work is performed in close collaboration with the team of bioinformaticians to coordinate the integration of ex vivo testing with accurate and biologically relevant data analysis. This interaction is exciting and vital to the success of the company.
Finally, the Senior Scientist bridges the translation of the scientific output of our platform technology and clinical interpretation. You will guide this development in close collaboration with the principal investigators of the clinical trials.
This job comes with a high level of autonomy and responsibility, as your work will be essential to the success of the company.
Responsibilities (not limited to):
- Planning and execution of internal R&D program towards commercialization
- Leading the cancer biology team
- Collaboration with external and clinical partners
- Project management in the context of grants
- Sample processing and management of drug testing
- Data analysis and critical evaluation of results
- Clear communication and reporting
- Contribution to the writing of patents, grants, and manuscripts
- Writing manuscripts, abstracts, and preparation of conference posters
Required qualifications:
- Ph.D. in the field of oncology with expertise in cell biology
- Or MSc with >4 years of working experience in a similar position within a (bio)pharmaceutical company
- Affinity with the commercialization of technology
- Proficient in English
- Experience with in vitro cellular assays and organoids/3D culture technology
- Experience with reading, understanding, and writing SOPs
- Excellent planning skills and flexibility
- Strong written and oral communication skills
- Live and work in the Netherlands
Preferred/Desired qualifications:
- Experience with processing primary/patient samples
- Experience with clinical trials in oncology
- Experience with QA & RA procedures
- Experience with microscope imaging
- Experience with drug screening
- Experience with IHC, immunofluorescence, flow cytometry, assay development
Offer:
By joining a rapidly developing start-up, you will get the opportunity to really shape the future of the company and develop your career. This includes having diverse tasks, broad responsibilities, and a high level of autonomy as you will be heading the development of our ex vivo tumor testing platform from the wet lab and cancer biology perspective.
You will have the opportunity to set up our offering for (clinical) customers, publish data and further guide product development. Based on the needs you will be in contact with different stakeholders, and work in close collaboration with clinical experts in oncology. Furthermore, the position is located at a biotech hub in a vibrant and international environment.