Scientist II, TCR Discovery Team

Weill Cornell Medicine; New York (NY); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Weill Cornell Medicine in New York is seeking a Scientist, TCR-T, to drive development of personalized TCR-based cell therapies for autologous tumors. You will build high‑throughput discovery and preclinical platforms to identify tumor‑specific TCRs for downstream analysis and translation to clinical use.

The role requires a PhD in Immunology and 5+ years in human T cell immunology with TCR characterization.

Qualifications

• PhD in Immunology or related field is required.
• Minimum 5+ years post‑PhD experience in academia or industry.
• Prior 5+ years in human T cell immunology, TCR characterization and human T cell assays.

Responsibilities

• Contribute hands‑on to end‑to‑end personalized TCR discovery incl. tumor‑reactive T cell identification, TCR cloning & characterization, specificity validation, and safety de‑risking leading to selection of personalized TCRs for clinical application.
• Utilize advanced de‑risking methods and workflows to assess alloreactivity, unintended HLA interactions, off‑target toxicity risk including X‑scan, peptide library screens and library‑on‑library HTS.
• Analyze and interpret complex campaigns for identification of TCRs against known tumor antigens.
• Generate complete data packages across functional potency, specificity, and safety to support go/no‑go decisions on specific TCRs, their cloning, specificity validation, and safety de‑risking
• Support the design and execution of preclinical IND enabling studies. Generate and assemble data packages to enable decision making and TCR candidate selection for clinical application.
• Directly perform data analysis, prepare reports, maintain detailed and accurate records of experiments.
• Collaborate cross‑functionally with vector development, T cell translation, and other teams to integrate learnings and advance gene therapy initiatives.
• Operate with highest integrity and ethics, conduct all experiments following lab, department, and college policies and procedures.
• Mentor and train junior scientists and staff, promote scientific rigor, collaboration, independent thinking, and career advancement.
• Prepare scientific abstracts and articles, publish results in research journals, and present findings at conferences.

Skills

TCR biology

T cell immunology

Data analysis

Team collaboration

Education

PhD in Immunology

Tools

TCR cloning

HTS assays

Flow cytometry

Job description

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*As required under NYC Human Rights Law Int 1208-2018 - Salary range for this role when Hired for NYC Offices

Position Summary

The Scientist, TCR-T, is responsible for driving the development of innovative personalized TCR-based cell therapies targeting autologous tumors. The mission of the TCR-T team is to build a rigorous, high‑throughput discovery and preclinical development engine that identifies high throughput and with high confidence tumor‑specific TCRs for downstream analysis, engineering, and translational development. This role reports to the Assistant Director and supports implementation of these innovative discovery and preclinical development platforms with the objective to identify and characterize personalized TCR gene therapy for clinical application.

Job Responsibilities

• Contribute hands‑on to end‑to‑end personalized TCR discovery incl. tumor‑reactive T cell identification, TCR cloning & characterization, specificity validation, and safety de‑risking leading to selection of personalized TCRs for clinical application.
• Utilize advanced de‑risking methods and workflows to assess alloreactivity, unintended HLA interactions, off‑target toxicity risk including X‑scan, peptide library screens and library‑on‑library HTS.
• Analyze and interpret complex campaigns for identification of TCRs against known tumor antigens.
• Generate complete data packages across functional potency, specificity, and safety to support go/no‑go decisions on specific TCRs, their cloning, specificity validation, and safety de‑risking
• Support the design and execution of preclinical IND enabling studies. Generate and assemble data packages to enable decision making and TCR candidate selection for clinical application.
• Directly perform data analysis, prepare reports, maintain detailed and accurate records of experiments.
• Collaborate cross‑functionally with vector development, T cell translation, and other teams to integrate learnings and advance gene therapy initiatives.
• Operate with highest integrity and ethics, conduct all experiments following lab, department, and college policies and procedures.
• Mentor and train junior scientists and staff, promote scientific rigor, collaboration, independent thinking, and career advancement.
• Prepare scientific abstracts and articles, publish results in research journals, and present findings at conferences.

Education

• PhD in Immunology or related field

Experience

• A minimum of 5+ years post‑PhD experience in academia or industry setting.
• Prior 5+ year experience in human T cell immunology, TCR characterization and human T cell assays is required.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Deep knowledge of T cell biology, TCR characterization and immune assays
• Strong teamwork skills, operates efficiently in multidisciplinary setting
• Ability to work in a fast‑paced and milestone‑oriented environment
• Highly organized and detail‑oriented with excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Commitment to scientific innovation and excellence

Licenses and Certifications

Working Conditions/Physical Demands

Ability to work flexible hours, evenings and weekends, when requested for special projects.

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