Investigative Toxicology Scientist (req2240)

Company: Frederick National Laboratory
Location: Frederick
Posted on: November 11, 2021

Job Description:

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNL) is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and operated by the prime contractor Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc. FNL is responsible for pursuing a unique mission in translational and applied biomedical research that is unsuitable for academia, the pharmaceutical industry, or other federal contractors. This position is ideally suited for a person who is interested in applied Research & Development. The selected candidate will join the Investigative Toxicology Laboratory (ITL) located at the NCI-Frederick campus.

The mission of the ITL is to support the NCI Toxicology and Pharmacology Branch with laboratory investigations of anticancer drug adverse effects that inform NCI Developmental Therapeutics Program (DTP). ITL develops and implements mechanism-based, human-relevant, in vitro assays with cutting-edge technology to improve and apply translational accuracy and predictive power of organ toxicity assessments for early discovery and development of new anticancer agents, and to screen compounds for remedies that effectively prevent or reverse chemotherapeutic-induced organ toxicity.

KEY ROLES/RESPONSIBILITIES

• Provide scientific and experimental contributions to in vitro strategies to investigate cellular toxicities that complement the mission of DTP to discover, develop, and characterize new anticancer drugs and their molecular targets
• Conduct experiments to identify potential liabilities (cardiotoxicity, bone marrow toxicity, neurotoxicity, etc.) and inform hit-to-lead and lead optimization
• Using current scientific and technical knowledge and experience, implement experimental strategies
• Experimental evaluation of established in vitro toxicology tools that enable high content evaluation, while developing and establishing new assays based on novel findings of toxicological mechanisms from the extramural community
• Conduct in vitro investigations to understand important toxicological findings arising from preclinical evaluations and first-in-human clinical trials of investigational agents
• Present experimental findings and their interpretations as needed to senior scientific leadership and NCI project teams, including NCI Experimental Therapeutics Program (NExT) project teams

• Possession of a PhD degree (e.g., PhD, DVM, and/or DSc) from an accredited college or university according to the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) in a field appropriate to toxicology/pharmacology or eight (8) years of related experience. Foreign degrees must be evaluated for U.S. equivalency
• In addition to the education requirement,0-2 years of progressively responsible experience
• Experience in the experimental investigation and assessment of adverse drug effects at the cellular, biochemical and/or molecular level
• Evidence of ability to convert experimental findings into scientific communications, such as peer-reviewed publications or presentations at a national scientific conference
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills for presenting and articulating experimental findings and their conclusions to project teams and more general audiences
• Demonstrated contribution to publications in scientific journals

• In addition to education requirements, a minimum of two (2) years of post-graduate experience with laboratory experimentation and testing in a field relevant to toxicology/pharmacology
• Experience with validation and application of established in vitro assays, and/or the development of new ones, with robust analytical performance to quantify adverse drug effects
• Track record of accomplishments in investigative toxicology and/or pharmacology
• Knowledge and experience using cutting edge assay technologies and investigative systems
• Ability to convert newly discovered mechanistic toxicology information into robust screening assays
• Laboratory experience with targeted agents for cancer, including immunotherapeutics
• Experience working in a Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) environment, under Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), or in other structured testing laboratory settings

• This position is subject to working with or have potential for exposure to animal(s) and/or animal material(s)
• This position is subject to working with or have potential for exposure to infectious material, requiring medical clearance and immunizations
• This position may require continuous or intermittent exposure to and exertion in environmental conditions such as working outdoors, temperature extremes, humidity extremes. etc. as part of the job

Keywords: Frederick National Laboratory, Frederick , Investigative Toxicology Scientist (req2240), Other , Frederick, Maryland