Scientist, Preclinical Pharmacology - Neuroscience & Immunology

EMD Serono, Inc.; Billerica (MA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 136,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Paid time off

Retirement contributions

Other perquisites

Job summary

EMD Serono, Inc. is seeking a Scientist II, Preclinical Pharmacology in Massachusetts to lead in vivo pharmacology studies across immunology, neuroscience, and fertility areas.

You will execute disease-model studies with diverse routes and contribute to translational PK/PD strategies and biomarker readouts. Join a multidisciplinary team advancing innovative therapies; the role emphasizes independent scientific execution, data packaging, and collaboration with internal and external partners while

Qualifications

• PhD in Pharmacology, Neuroscience, Immunology, Physiology, or other life science discipline with 4+ years of drug discovery experience in a pharmaceutical or biotech industry setting.
• Master’s degree in Pharmacology, Neuroscience, Immunology, Physiology, or other life science discipline with 6+ years of drug discovery experience in a pharmaceutical or biotech industry setting.
• Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacology, Neuroscience, Immunology, Physiology, or other life science discipline with 8+ years of drug discovery experience in a pharmaceutical or biotech industry setting.

Responsibilities

• Establish, validate, optimize, and troubleshoot fit-for-purpose in vivo disease models — including acute and chronic disease-relevant models — to defined validation milestones and reproducibility criteria
• Build and apply immunological and/or neurological disease models to evaluate efficacy, target engagement, pharmacodynamic response, and translational relevance of novel therapeutic approaches, delivering study-ready data packages on schedule and in compliance with protocol and quality standards
• Hands on execution of in vivo pharmacology studies in disease models — including dosing via IV, SC, IP, PO, ICV, and IT routes, blood and CSF sampling, tissue collection, and necropsy — delivering study-ready samples on schedule and in compliance with protocol and quality standards
• Perform and support surgical procedures relevant to broad set of pharmacology assays, including but not limited to surgical models, ICV/IT administration, stereotaxic injections, surgical recovery monitoring, and clinical scoring, to define procedural and welfare standards
• Support in vivo pharmacology studies by conducting broad, standardized assessments of functional, behavioral, and physiological endpoints across preclinical disease models, enabling robust evaluation of treatment-related effects
• Support biomarker strategy execution, including fluid, tissue, molecular, inflammatory, and translatable biomarker readouts
• Manage CRO partnerships and external study execution, extending the laboratory’s capacity and geographic reach, ensuring program timelines are maintained without compromising scientific standards
• Champion IACUC & AAALAC compliance across the in vivo function

Skills

In vivo pharmacology

PK/PD expertise

Biomarker assays

Education

PhD in Pharmacology/ Neuroscience/ Immunology/ Physiology

Master’s in Pharmacology/ Neuroscience/ Immunology/ Physiology

Bachelor’s in Pharmacology/ Neuroscience/ Immunology/ Physiology

Job description

Work Your Magic with us! Start your next chapter and join EMD Serono.

Ready to explore, break barriers, and discover more? We know you’ve got big plans – so do we! Our colleagues across the globe love innovating with science and technology to enrich people’s lives with our solutions in Healthcare, Life Science, and Electronics. Together, we dream big and are passionate about caring for our rich mix of people, customers, patients, and planet. That's why we are always looking for curious minds that see themselves imagining the unimaginable with us.

United As One for Patients, our purpose in Healthcare is to help create, improve and prolong lives. We develop medicines, intelligent devices and innovative technologies in therapeutic areas such as Oncology, Neurology and Fertility. Our teams work together across 6 continents with passion and relentless curiosity in order to help patients at every stage of life. Joining our Healthcare team is becoming part of a diverse, inclusive and flexible working culture, presenting great opportunities for personal development and career advancement across the globe.

This role does not offer sponsorship for work authorization. External applicants must be eligible to work in the US.

Your Role

EMD Serono is hiring a Scientist II, Preclinical Pharmacology. This position reports to the Principal Scientist / Lab Head and is accountable for the independent scientific execution of in vivo pharmacology studies supporting programs across immunology and inflammation (I&I), neuroscience, fertility and other therapeutic areas. This role contributes to translational PK/PD and biomarker strategies, executes disease-model studies across multiple therapeutic areas, operating with a high degree of technical independence.

Responsibilities

Scientific & Pharmacology

• Establish, validate, optimize, and troubleshoot fit-for-purpose in vivo disease models — including acute and chronic disease-relevant models — to defined validation milestones and reproducibility criteria
• Build and apply immunological and/or neurological disease models to evaluate efficacy, target engagement, pharmacodynamic response, and translational relevance of novel therapeutic approaches, delivering study-ready data packages on schedule and in compliance with protocol and quality standards

In Vivo Pharmacology

• Hands on execution of in vivo pharmacology studies in disease models — including dosing via IV, SC, IP, PO, ICV, and IT routes, blood and CSF sampling, tissue collection, and necropsy — delivering study-ready samples on schedule and in compliance with protocol and quality standards
• Perform and support surgical procedures relevant to broad set of pharmacology assays, including but not limited to surgical models, ICV/IT administration, stereotaxic injections, surgical recovery monitoring, and clinical scoring, to define procedural and welfare standards
• Support in vivo pharmacology studies by conducting broad, standardized assessments of functional, behavioral, and physiological endpoints across preclinical disease models, enabling robust evaluation of treatment-related effects
• Support biomarker strategy execution, including fluid, tissue, molecular, inflammatory, and translatable biomarker readouts
• Manage CRO partnerships and external study execution, extending the laboratory’s capacity and geographic reach, ensuring program timelines are maintained without compromising scientific standards
• Champion IACUC & AAALAC compliance across the in vivo function

Translational PK/PD And Biomarker Support

• Conduct PK sampling in rodents, including plasma, tissue, and disease-area-relevant matrix collection to support exposure and target engagement assessments
• Execute target engagement marker assays, cytokine/chemokine assays, and support histology/IHC coordination and molecular endpoint integration

Who You Are

Minimum Qualifications

• PhD in Pharmacology, Neuroscience, Immunology, Physiology, or other life science discipline with 4+ years of drug discovery experience in a pharmaceutical or biotech industry setting

OR

• Master’s degree in Pharmacology, Neuroscience, Immunology, Physiology, or other life science discipline with 6+ years of drug discovery experience in a pharmaceutical or biotech industry setting

OR

• Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacology, Neuroscience, Immunology, Physiology, or other life science discipline with 8+ years of drug discovery experience in a pharmaceutical or biotech industry setting

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with neurological or neurodegenerative disease models (e.g., dopaminergic lesion, alpha-synuclein models, neuroinflammation models)
• Experience with advanced functional or behavioral assays relevant to at least one disease area (e.g., motor/cognitive for CNS, automated video tracking or home-cage monitoring platforms)
• Significant experience with protein-based and molecular biomarker assays (Flow Cytometry, ELISA, MSD, cytokine/chemokine panels, target engagement markers, Olink, NULISA, etc)
• Expertise in at least one of the following disease areas: immunology and inflammation, neuroscience and neurodegeneration, fertility, endocrinology or rare diseases

Pay Range for this position: $90,400 - $135,700

The offer range represents the anticipated low and high end of the base pay compensation for this position. The actual compensation offered will be determined by factors such as location, level of experience, education, skills, and other job-related factors. Position may be eligible for sales or performance-based bonuses. Benefits offered by the Company include health insurance, paid time off (PTO), retirement contributions, and other perquisites.

What we offer:

We are curious minds that come from a broad range of backgrounds, perspectives, and life experiences. We believe that this variety drives excellence and innovation, strengthening our ability to lead in science and technology. We are committed to creating access and opportunities for all to develop and grow at your own pace. Join us in building a culture of inclusion and belonging that impacts millions and empowers everyone to work their magic and champion human progress!