Immunologist: Cell reprogramming for immune-mediated inflammatory diseases

ABOUT THE ROLE

You will be joining a new company founded via a venture creation partnership between Deep Science Ventures and AbbVie, to be based in the London area. The technology we're building has been based on devising and de-risking a novel nucleic acid-based approach to restore immune tolerance via promoting the reprogramming of pathogenic tissue-resident memory cells to tolerogenic cells. The company is now seeking a scientist with expertise in immunology and T cell biology to help progress its novel approach. By joining at this stage, you will be driving the key experimental work required to achieve early stage milestones, optimising the preclinical development of this exciting approach. The company is continuing to expand its scientific leadership team and already has a strong and growing advisory board. DSV and AbbVie teams will continue to provide support post-spinout.

THE OPPORTUNITY AREA

Immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) afflict 3-7% of the global population, presenting a significant clinical and economic challenge. With projections indicating the global market for anti-inflammatory drugs could reach £165 billion annually by 2030, the urgency for curative therapies has never been more pronounced. Despite advances in biologic treatments transforming the IMID treatment landscape over recent decades, these therapies often yield suboptimal results, benefiting only a subset of patients while fostering drug resistance or causing significant side effects.

The complexity of IMIDs, rooted in an intricate interplay of genetics and environmental triggers, continues to elude complete understanding. This complexity underscores the limitations of current therapeutic strategies and the pressing need for innovative approaches that offer genuine cures and sustainable drug-free recovery.

WHAT WE ARE BUILDING

In collaboration with AbbVie, we are pioneering a groundbreaking venture aimed at harnessing cellular reprogramming to surmount the challenges of IMIDs. Our innovative approach focuses on selectively and sustainably promoting immune tolerance by reprogramming pathogenic T cells—those implicated in driving disease in certain IMIDs. This strategy not only targets the elimination of the problematic cell population but also leverages their reprogramming potential to regulate inflammation and ultimately cure the disease.

This venture represents a significant departure from traditional selective depletion strategies that, while effective in some contexts (e.g., Alemtuzumab for multiple sclerosis and Rituximab for systemic lupus erythematosus), overlook the transformative potential of in situ cellular reprogramming. Through the development of novel nucleic acid vectors, we aim to unlock naturally occurring tolerance mechanisms to provide durable, disease-specific therapies.

Our ambition is to deliver solutions that achieve sustained remission and cure for individuals affected by IMIDs. By combining DSV's venture creation prowess with AbbVie's therapeutic expertise, we are uniquely positioned to drive this project forward, mark a new chapter in the treatment of inflammatory diseases, and create lasting impact in the fight against these debilitating conditions.

Requirements

We are looking for a passionate and motivated scientist with strong immunological expertise and track-record in immunology, to drive forward the science of this early-stage biotech. The successful candidate will be a key player in:

• Driving the strategic direction of the immunology aspects of the experimental work plan;
• Designing, refining and optimising the experimental work plan and scientific process;
• Orchestrating the development of cutting-edge oligonucleotide therapeutics for critical in vitro and ex vivo translational studies in order to assess efficacy, toxicology and PK/PD profiles of those drugs in the context of our technology;
• Planning in vivo biodistribution and efficacy studies;
• Ensuring that all techniques are updated with the latest advancements in the field;
• Guiding the development and integration of new assays and technologies, to continuously improve our technology;
• Streamlining the workflow to adhere to timelines and budgets;
• Ensuring data quality and integrity, to align with objectives and deadlines;
• Crafting compelling data packages and presentations for investor conversations.

WHO SHOULD APPLY

Essential (must-have):

• You have a PhD in immunology (or MRes + 5 years of relevant work experience).
• You are driven by unsolved challenges in medicine, especially immunology and autoimmunity, and have the ambition to work with a team to build new solutions resulting in curative therapies
• A deep biological understanding of immune cell biology, particularly immune cells present within inflammatory disease
• Extensive hands-on experience in functional immunological assays:
• Flow cytometry (multi-colour experimental & panel design, cellular phenotyping and analysis)
• Primary human immune cell culture, particularly with T cells
• Electroporation of mRNAs
• ELISA/MSD analysis of cytokines
• Bisulphite sequencing
• A deep understanding of immune tolerance mechanisms and associated challenges at the biological, clinical and technical levels
• You are innovative, creative, and guided by first-principles thinking

Preferred (nice-to-have):

• Track record of high quality publications in the field, or thought leadership in the field
• Bioinformatics and data analysis skills
• Drug discovery or (pre-)clinical development expertise

Benefits

OUR OFFER:

• Salary benchmarked against similar stage companies, with an attractive share option plan for early hire
• We provide optimised, purpose-built, proprietary tools, resources and processes to help create high-impact ventures from scratch, using our venture creation methodology.
• We draw on opportunity area specific know-how provided by our network of Partners and Advisors;
• DSV provide continuous support after post spin-out, including fundraising, commercial partnerships, recruitment and team-building (amongst other things);
• There are dozens of Founders currently at DSV across sectors working collaboratively and supporting one another - a unique resource to draw on.

ABOUT DSV

Deep Science Ventures is creating a future in which both humans and the planet can thrive.

We use our unique venture creation process to create, spin-out and invest into science companies, combining available scientific knowledge and founder-type scientists into high-impact ventures.

We operate in 4 sectors: Pharmaceuticals, Climate, Agriculture and Computation, tackling the challenges defining those areas by taking a first principles approach and partnering with leading institutions.