Summer Intern, In Vitro Neurotoxicology & MEA Research

1000 Genentech, Inc.; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 53,000 - 76,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid internship

Stipend provided

Job summary

Genentech, a Roche subsidiary in South San Francisco, seeks a PhD student to support the CiS Translational Safety group in developing human iPSC-derived neuron/astrocyte MEA assays for early seizure liability prediction.

The intern will optimize 2D co-cultures, evaluate readouts, and help establish assay sensitivity and specificity while collaborating with cross-functional teams. It is a paid, on-site summer internship with a stipend based on location.

Qualifications

• Pursuing a PhD in a relevant field.
• Hands-on experience with aseptic cell culture techniques, preferably with neurons.
• Basic understanding of electrophysiology concepts and MEA systems.

Responsibilities

• Evaluate plating densities and cell formulations.
• Execute acute and long-term compound dosing studies.
• Analyze multi-parametric electrophysiological readouts to distinguish seizurogenic phenotypes from general neurotoxicity.
• Screen a benchmark panel of historical internal molecules and literature controls to establish assay performance.
• Onboard and optimize MEA experimental protocols for iPSC-derived neuronal cultures.
• Qualify the MEA assay using reference pro-convulsant and non-convulsant compounds.
• Analyze neural spike and burst metrics to establish robust seizure prediction endpoints.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to integrate MEA workflows into safety pipelines.

Skills

Cell culture techniques

Electrophysiology basics

Education

Pursuing a PhD (enrolled student)

Tools

Axion Neural Metric Tool

R

Python

Job description

Genentech, a Roche subsidiary in South San Francisco, seeks a PhD student to support the CiS Translational Safety group in developing human iPSC-derived neuron/astrocyte MEA assays for early seizure liability prediction.

The intern will optimize 2D co-cultures, evaluate readouts, and help establish assay sensitivity and specificity while collaborating with cross-functional teams. It is a paid, on-site summer internship with a stipend based on location.