Diagnostic Scientist

AltPep Corporation is a biomedical startup based along Seattle's Lake Union focused on developing early disease-modifying treatments and detection tools for amyloid diseases by targeting one of the earliest molecular triggers – toxic soluble oligomers. These toxic oligomers are associated with many diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases and type 2 diabetes.

AltPep draws its origins to Dr. Valerie Daggett's lab at the University of Washington's Bioengineering Department. The company closed a significant round of financing in mid-2023 and is currently seeking to expand at its new, state-of-the-art, headquarters located on the Eastside of Lake Union in Seattle.

About This Role

We are actively seeking a dedicated Diagnostic Scientist to bolster our diagnostics team. The successful candidate will be deeply involved in assay development and validation, navigating through regulatory requirements, and contributing significantly to clinical trials in the diagnostic domain. A solid foundation in clinical design and biostatistics coupled with the ability to substantiate Analytical Validity, Clinical Validity, and Clinical Utility for In Vitro Diagnostics will be highly advantageous. Previous involvement with neurodegenerative diseases and familiarity with relevant biomarkers for tracking disease progression is desirable.

What You’ll Do:

• Participate in diagnostic development, optimization, and evaluation.
  
  
• Contribute to in-house analytical work and clinical validation exercises.
  
  
• Support Contract Research Organization (CRO) projects allied with diagnostics.
  
  
• Assist in the translation of ELISA-like assays from a Lab Developed Test (LDT) to an FDA approved Kit.
  
  
• Independently design, execute, and interpret various studies, and collaborate in experimental design either autonomously or within a team.
  
  
• Assist in managing diagnostics project governance, budget adherence, timeline management, and deliverable realization.
  
  
• Provide assay support for therapeutic development projects.
  
  
• Assist in mentoring junior team members and fostering a collaborative team environment.
  
  
• Collaborate with partner organizations for manufacturing and technological transfer tasks.

What You Bring:

• Must Haves:
  
  
  • PhD in chemistry, biochemistry, pharmaceutical chemistry, bioengineering or related field
    
    
  • Solid understanding of peptide/protein chemistry, structures, and interactions. Strong in analytical, organic, and physical chemistry techniques.
    
    
  • Proficiency in analytical and conformational protein characterization (including HPLC, MS, CD, functional assays).
    
    
  • Hands-on experience with ELISAs, cell culture, handling human samples, chemical modifications, protein structural studies, planning animal experiments, analytical techniques, statistical analysis of results, pharmaceutical formulation, assay optimization.
    
    
  • Experience with quantitative diagnostics and biomarkers in a range of biological samples, including plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).
    
    
  • Familiarity with clinically validated assays used in clinical trials/designs.
    
    
• What Will Separate You From The Rest:
  
  
  • Demonstrable experience in assay development and validation; familiarity with the FDA approval process is a plus.

Debilitating diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's affect more than a billion people worldwide. Drawing upon decades of academic research, AltPep was founded to create groundbreaking tools to detect and treat such diseases. Although a young company, AltPep has been recognized for its scientific accomplishment and potential.

While still small and nimble, we have grown to a team of thirty talented individuals dedicated to improving the lives of billions. We continue to grow and are looking for talented people to join the team and help us accomplish our mission.

We offer competitive compensation to those joining our fight. The compensation range for a Scientist is $100,000 - $125,000, depending on experience. AltPep takes care of its employees and offers generous stock options, medical, vision, and dental coverage for its employees and their dependents. We understand, and value, life outside of work and offer competitive PTO so you can rest and recharge.