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Scientist, Protein Science

Position Description

Juvena Therapeutics is seeking a highly motivated protein scientist to join us as our new Scientist of Protein Science, who will be an integral part of our drug discovery platform expansion to include new molecular scaffolds such as antibodies and other biologics. We are searching for an individual who is excited to work as a leader in an intimate and small team focused on the discovery, preclinical validation, and clinical translation of novel protein therapeutics for chronic and rare degenerative diseases. The Protein Science team is responsible for the selection, design, and optimization of therapeutic drug candidates with immense impact on cell and tissue regeneration. The ideal candidate will have expertise in classical screening methodologies as well as computational protein design to increase our hit rates. Reporting to the Director of Protein Science, the Scientist will be a key part in growing our competencies and throughput in this team. 

Company Summary

Juvena Therapeutics is on a mission to discover and develop biologics for rare and chronic degenerative diseases by mining the secretomes of human pluripotent stem cells through a machine learning (ML)-enhanced platform. Juvena’s approach integrates proteomics, transcriptomics and imaging with phenotypic human in vitro disease model screening and extensive preclinical validation to mine stem cell secretomes as a rich source of new medicines for chronic and rare diseases. We are advancing leads for muscular dystrophies, muscle atrophy, injury, and osteopathies. Since our launch in mid-2018, Juvena has discovered and validated 22 hits for neuromuscular, skeletal, and metabolic diseases. Juvena is advancing a lead program for Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1, a rare autosomal dominant, progressive muscle-wasting disease.

Juvena Therapeutics has secured venture capital, NIH, and CIRM funding to develop their top lead to a clinical-stage investigational new drug, to build their stem cell secretome database, and to leverage their discovery platform to rapidly identify and validate novel protein-based drug candidates for multiple rare and chronic diseases across inflammatory, cardiometabolic and hepatic therapeutic areas. At Juvena we embrace a diversity of backgrounds, experience and approaches that all combine to lead us to world-class scientific results in an inclusive environment.

Major Responsibilities

• Perform key steps in lead optimization process of promising hits from Juvena’s proprietary stem cell-derived protein library to identify candidates with great potential for drug development in various therapeutic areas
• Optimize the activity, stability, and pharmacokinetics of identified protein candidates by amino acid and post-translational modification to reach a desired target product profile 
• Develop and optimize upstream and downstream methods, including protein expression, purification, and biophysical characterization
• Support early discovery and preclinical development by providing protein and analytical expertise to advance pipeline projects
• Present at group, company, and external meetings/conferences
• Contribute to a dynamic and exciting culture that embraces teamwork and innovation
• Maintain flexibility in supporting multiple discovery and preclinical projects as the company grows

Position Requirements and Experience

• PhD in biochemistry or another relevant field with 2-4 years of experience (or equivalent experience in industry) with a preference for candidates that have previously worked with biologics drug discovery. 
• Post-PhD experience is preferred, but not required.
• Demonstrated hands-on expertise in expressing and purifying proteins in a high throughput manner in different expression systems (E.coli, mammalian, baculovirus and yeast).
• Proficiency in analytical characterization
• Ability to perform protein expression, purification, characterization and data  analysis independently
• A strong track record of research accomplishments in protein design and protein engineering
• Excellent communication and technical writing skills
• Ability to work effectively with others in a dynamic environment

Preferred Qualifications

• Previous experience with optimizing mammalian and E.coli expression systems
• Experience with protein variant structure-activity relationships
• Familiar with one or more structural modeling programs such as Rosetta, MOE, Schrodinger, etc

Compensation and Benefits

• Competitive salary and annual bonus and stock options
• Health/Dental/Vision insurance
• Paid vacation and holidays 
• More benefits coming soon (including initiation of 401(k) matching program)

Apply Now

To apply for this position please complete the form below. Once the form is complete, email your CV and Cover Letter to apply@juvenatherapeutics.com with the title of the position as the subject line.  

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Data Scientist – Drug Discovery & Development (Senior*)

Position Description

Juvena Therapeutics, Inc. is a regenerative medicine biotech startup inviting applicants for Data Scientist – Drug Discovery & Development, who are excited to work as a core member of a team focused on the discovery and validation of novel disease-modifying biologics that promote tissue regeneration by inducing tissue-specific rejuvenating phenotypes. We are discovering and developing various biologics that can promote disease-modifying phenotypes such as increased stem cell activity, reduced chronic or localized inflammation, reduced fibrosis, improved differentiation, or increased mitochondrial function and metabolism. *Senior title possible commensurate with relevant experience.

The Data Scientist, reporting to the Head of Data Science and working closely with lab+computational scientists and other researchers, will drive the discovery and development of new therapeutic agents by providing leadership in statistical design, computational analysis, and predictive modeling throughout the drug discovery and development process, including algorithms for predicting disease-modifying biologic candidates & biomarkers, in vitro and in vivo experiment design and analysis, developing and automating assay read-out models & statistical QC analyses, and supporting regulatory approval (IND, NDA, etc.) under direction. The Data Scientist will also be a key contributor to Juvena Therapeutics’ growing in-house knowledge ecosystem (JuvNET), and developing tools and applications that extend to scientists the use of JuvNET across organs, diseases, proteins, and pathways.

The position is full-time starting as early as possible. This is the perfect opportunity for someone interested in the exciting and fast-paced environment of a startup company and looking to make a difference in human health and healthspan.

Company Summary

Juvena Therapeutics is a venture backed biotechnology startup discovering and developing disease-modifying biologics by leveraging their computationally-driven discovery platform to rapidly identify and validate secreted proteins with regenerative potential for multiple rare and chronic diseases.

At Juvena Therapeutics, we are on a mission to discover and develop biologics for rare and chronic degenerative diseases by mapping secreted proteins to unmet medical needs through a machine learning (ML)-enhanced platform. Juvena’s approach integrates proteomics, transcriptomics and imaging with phenotypic human in vitro disease model screening and extensive preclinical validation to mine the therapeutic potential of human stem cell secretomes as a rich source of new medicines that promote tissue regeneration and repair. We are advancing lead drug candidates for muscular dystrophies, atrophy, injury, and osteopathies, and establishing new programs targeting tissue-specific degenerative diseases across multiple therapeutic areas. Since our launch in mid-2018, Juvena has discovered and validated several hits for neuromuscular, skeletal, and metabolic diseases. Juvena’ preclinical programs are supported by funding from the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). Juvena is advancing a lead program for Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1, a rare autosomal dominant, progressive muscle-wasting disease.

At Juvena we embrace a diversity of backgrounds, experience and approaches that all combine to lead us to world-class scientific results in an inclusive environment.

Position Location and Work Permit Requirement

• 640 Galveston Dr. Redwood City, 64063. Remote or hybrid is also possible. 
• The Candidate must be legally authorized to work in the US.
• This position is required to be on-site for 2-3 days/week on average. 

Position Requirements and Duties 

• Bring to the Juvena Team your expertise in:
  • Statistical analysis and visualization of complex data relationships driving lead discovery and validation
  • Bioinformatics and statistical leadership in pre-clinical drug/biomarker development projects
  • Data modeling and inference with applications in drug/biomarker discovery
  • Establishing analytical pipelines, packages, & tools that drive best-practices and shared codebase development
• Support pharmaceutical co-development projects and associated business development objectives
• Support pre-clinical activities related to regulatory meetings and submissions under direction
• Develop and apply computational models to enhance the efficiency of candidate biologics identification, screening, and pre-clinical validation
• Work cross-functionally to create the best possible pipeline of candidate therapeutics and the tools to scale out efficiently across multiple indications
• Improve efficiency by automating data extractions, analyses, and reporting; 
• Manage Google Cloud and AWS resources connected to relevant projects; 
• Other tasks as required.
• Actively survey the forefront of published methods and resources for your field and internalize key aspects to the company

Qualifications

This position is a great fit if you have/are:

• This position is a great fit if you have/are:
• Ph.D in Biostatistics, Bioinformatics, a Biological field, or other related disciplines involving computational biological data analysis
• 1+ years of industry experience applying computational & statistical analyses to Life Sciences R&D objectives such as biomarker discovery and development, early target discovery, pre-clinical/ clinical study design, PK/PD, toxicogenomics, MOA studies, etc.
• Demonstrated mastery of computational-statistical analysis and fundamentals of biology with publications, co-inventorships, or other impressive achievements
• Experience integrating and analyzing multi-omic data
• Highly communicative – Effective communicator verbally, in writing, and in presentations to both expert and novice audiences
• Highly motivated – loves working collaboratively with scientists, pursue delivering objective of analysis/tool to meet deadlines on experiments and projects
• Demonstrated expertise in computing language (e.g. R and/or Python)
• Experience with cloud computing systems is a plus (e.g. GCP, AWS)
• Startup R&D experience is a plus

Compensation and Benefits

• Competitive salary, annual bonus, partial 401K and stock options
• Health/Dental/Vision insurance
• Paid vacation and holidays

Apply Now

To apply for this position please complete the form below. Once the form is complete, email your CV and Cover Letter to apply@juvenatherapeutics.com with the title of the position as the subject line.  

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Computational Biologist – Drug Discovery & Development (Senior*)

Position Description

Juvena Therapeutics, Inc. is a regenerative medicine biotech startup inviting applicants for Computational Biologist – Drug Discovery & Development who are excited to work as a core member of a team focused on the discovery and validation of novel candidate biologics for tissue regeneration and repair, including for inducing phenotypes such as increased stem cell activity, mitochondrial function, viability, or reducing inflammation and ROS formation, etc. Senior title possible commensurate with experience. 

Reporting to the Head of Data Science, the computational biologist will be responsible for driving lead biologics and biomarker discovery and prioritization from proteomics and multi-omics experiments, extracting meaningful biological insights from large, complex omics datasets (such as interaction networks, molecular single cell resolution studies, expression profiling), and integrating the results into Juvena Therapeutics’ growing in-house knowledge ecosystem. Deep expertise in MS-based proteomics analysis is considered equally valuable to extensive multiomics analysis experience for drug/biomarker discovery and development.

The (senior) computational biologist  will develop and apply creative, leading-edge approaches in bioinformatics, biostatistics, and machine-learning to identify novel biologics and enhance the efficiency of lead therapeutic drug screening and design. They will also support all stages of drug development that require proteomics applications and/or computational biology/bioinformatics.

The position is full-time starting as early as possible. This is the perfect opportunity for someone interested in the exciting and fast-paced environment of a biotech startup company looking to make a difference in human health and healthspan.

Company Summary

Juvena Therapeutics is a venture backed biotechnology startup discovering and developing disease-modifying biologics by leveraging their computationally-driven discovery platform to rapidly identify and validate secreted proteins with regenerative potential for multiple rare and chronic diseases.

At Juvena Therapeutics, we are on a mission to discover and develop biologics for rare and chronic degenerative diseases by mapping secreted proteins to unmet medical needs through a machine learning (ML)-enhanced platform. Juvena’s approach integrates proteomics, transcriptomics and imaging with phenotypic human in vitro disease model screening and extensive preclinical validation to mine the therapeutic potential of human stem cell secretomes as a rich source of new medicines that promote tissue regeneration and repair. We are advancing lead drug candidates for muscular dystrophies, atrophy, injury, and osteopathies, and establishing new programs targeting tissue-specific degenerative diseases across multiple therapeutic areas. Since our launch in mid-2018, Juvena has discovered and validated several hits for neuromuscular, skeletal, and metabolic diseases. Juvena’ preclinical programs are supported by funding from the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). Juvena is advancing a lead program for Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1, a rare autosomal dominant, progressive muscle-wasting disease.

At Juvena we embrace a diversity of backgrounds, experience and approaches that all combine to lead us to world-class scientific results in an inclusive environment.

Position Location and work permit requirement

• 640 Galveston Dr. Redwood City, 64063
• Candidate must be legally authorized to work in the US.
• This position is required to be on-site for 2-3 days/week on average.

Position Requirements and Duties 

• Bring to the Discovery team your expertise in integrated analysis of multiomics and interaction network data for computational drug & biomarker discovery and development,  OR/AND MS-based proteomics analysis such as design and analysis of data-dependent acquisition, data-independent acquisition and isobaric labeling proteomics experiments.
• Develop and apply analysis methods, visualizations, and predictive models to enhance the efficiency of candidate biologics discovery and screening for increased stem cell activity.
• Work cross-functionally to create the best possible pipeline of candidate therapeutics and the tools to scale out efficiently across multiple indications. 
• Improve efficiency by automating data extractions, analyses, and reporting; 
• Other scientific tasks as required.
• Actively survey the forefront of published methods and resources for your field and internalize key aspects to the company

Qualifications

This position is a great fit if you have/are:

• Ph.D. (or M.S. + equiv experience)  in bioinformatics, biology, biochemistry or analytical chemistry with 1+ years relevant industry experience in bioinformatics including multi-omics and single-cell analyses for drug & biomarker discovery
• Demonstrated mastery of bioinformatics/proteomics/multi-omics analysis with publications, co-inventorships, or other impressive achievements
• Highly communicative. Effective communicator verbally, in writing, and in presentations to both expert and novice audiences
• Self-Starter – Can work independently and/or collaboratively with scientists to make appropriate and timely decisions to meet deadlines on experiments and projects
• Strong foundational knowledge and experience with biological data, particularly with methods generating large scale  omics data sets (e.g. epigenomics, genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics)
• Demonstrated expertise in an analysis and automation language (e.g. Python, R)
• Demonstrated expertise in cloud computing systems – experience with Google Cloud and AWS resources is a plus
• Broad knowledge of mass spectrometry-based protein quantification and characterization strategies & analysis tools is a plus
• Familiarity with pharmaceutical R&D is a plus
• Startup R&D experience is a plus

Compensation and Benefits

• Competitive salary, annual bonus, partial 401K matching and stock options 
• Health/Dental/Vision insurance
• Paid vacation and holidays

Apply Now

To apply for this position please complete the form below. Once the form is complete, email your CV and Cover Letter to apply@juvenatherapeutics.com with the title of the position as the subject line.