Research Associate / Senior Research Associate, Cell Culture

Violet Research Institute; Berkeley (CA); On-site; USD 75,000 - 115,000; Full time

Job summary

Violet Research Institute in Berkeley is seeking a hands-on Research Associate to Senior Research Associate to advance stem cell culture and neuronal differentiation for an active therapeutic program. You will maintain iPSC cultures, differentiate into neural lineages, and support disease modeling with routine 2D workflows.

Ideal candidates bring strong aseptic technique, meticulous documentation, and the ability to thrive in a fast-paced, on-site team.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in cell biology, stem cell biology, neuroscience, biotechnology, or a related life science field.
• 2–4 years hands-on lab experience in cell culture and assays.
• Proficiency in sterile cell culture, including media prep and cell harvesting.
• Strong documentation and data organization with contamination-control track record.
• Ability to work full-time on-site and handle weekend work.

Responsibilities

• Maintain pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) cultures with aseptic technique.
• Differentiate iPSCs into neuronal cell types for disease Modeling.
• Prepare sterile media and support 2D cell culture workflows.
• Manage materials inventory and support lab upkeep.
• Ensure adherence to batch records and document results.
• Support protocol scale-up and optimization.
• Assist imaging and microscopy readouts as needed.

Skills

Sterile technique

Data organization

Time management

Team collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in cell biology / stem cell biology / neuroscience / biotechnology

Tools

ELN documentation

Microscopy

Job description

Research Associate / Senior Research Associate, Cell Culture

About Violet Research Institute

Violet Research Institute (VRI) is building the future of personalized medicine for patients with genetic diseases. We're at the frontier of a new era in medicine — one where treatments can be designed for individual patients based on their unique biology. Recent breakthroughs in science, engineering, and regulatory pathways have made this possible, but much of this work remains nascent and distributed across disparate efforts globally. We're unifying, refining, and scaling these efforts into a cohesive platform. For each patient we serve, we deeply understand their biology, then design and manufacture a targeted treatment that can be delivered in months instead of years.

We combine the urgency and execution mindset of a startup with the mission-driven openness of a nonprofit, allowing us to collaborate broadly and move quickly on behalf of the patients we serve. We've brought together leading researchers, engineers, and organizations across omics, therapeutic design, manufacturing, clinical care, and AI to move from insight to action as quickly as possible.

VRI is founded by the family of our first patient, Violet, and is led by Michael Buckley, Siranush Babakhanova and Steve Turner. Our team is deeply cross-disciplinary and first-principles driven. We value builders, experts, and generalists who are excited to work across domains, challenge conventional approaches, and increase access to personalized medicine.

What We're Looking For

We are hiring a hands-on Research Associate to Senior Research Associate to support stem cell culture and neuronal differentiation for an active therapeutic program. The primary work centers on maintaining pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) cultures and differentiating them into disease-relevant neuronal cell types to support disease modeling and downstream assay work.

We seek someone with an excellent set of hands with a strong track record for clean, reproducible bench work and rigorous aseptic technique. It is a demanding, fast‑paced environment with shifting priorities and frequent new asks, and it offers meaningful contribution to patient-directed science and broad exposure to a growing organization.

What You’ll Own

• Maintain and expand pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) cultures with strong aseptic technique and contamination control.
• Differentiate iPSCs into neuronal cell types (e.g., neural progenitor cells, neurons, and other disease‑relevant neuronal lineages) to support disease modeling.
• Perform sterile cell‑culture media preparation and support routine, traditional (2D) cell‑culture workflows.
• Prepare sterile media aliquots for scheduled daily cell‑culture feeds.
• Reconstitute growth factors and small molecules according to established differentiation and maintenance protocols.
• Manage inventory of raw materials and completed reagents, and support laboratory upkeep to maintain uninterrupted workflows aligned with project timelines and program goals.
• Closely adhere to batch records and protocols for media, reagent preparation, and differentiation timelines.
• Maintain rigorous experimental records, culture QC, and data organization in an Electronic Lab Notebook (ELN) and/or written batch records to support a rapidly iterating program.
• Contribute to culture and differentiation protocol scale‑up, optimization, and process refinement as capabilities expand.
• Support imaging and microscopy‑based readouts on a secondary basis.
• Assure compliance with all relevant laboratory safety and biosafety regulations.
• Adapt to changing priorities and occasional weekend work in a fast‑paced, on‑site setting.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in cell biology, stem cell biology, molecular biology, neuroscience, biotechnology, or a related life science field. An advanced degree is not required.
• 2 to 4 years of hands‑on laboratory experience in cell culture and assay development.
• Hands‑on experience with routine pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) culture, particularly iPSC maintenance and/or differentiation.
• Demonstrated proficiency in sterile cell‑culture technique, including media preparation and cell harvesting.
• Strong documentation, data organization, and quality practices, with a proven contamination‑control track record.
• Strong attention to detail and organizational skills, with consistent adherence to protocols.
• Ability to manage time efficiently across multiple tasks in a fast‑paced environment.
• Ability to work full‑time on‑site and thrive in a flexible, high‑pace environment, including occasional weekend work.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience differentiating pluripotent stem cells into neuronal cell types (neurons, neural progenitor cells, or other neural lineages) for disease modeling.
• Neuroscience background or exposure to neuro‑focused models.
• Microscopy and fluorescence imaging experience.
• Prior industry experience in startup.
• Clear communication skills and the ability to work effectively in a team setting.
• Experience processing and analyzing molecular endpoints (nucleic acid, protein, etc…).
• Execute independently from loosely specified tasks
• Ask for help only when truly blocked, communicating clearly what's needed
• Thrive in early‑stage, ambiguous, high‑pace environments
• Mission‑driven with genuine care for patient impact