Roche fosters diversity, equity and inclusion, representing the communities we serve. When dealing with healthcare on a global scale, diversity is an essential ingredient to success. We believe that inclusion is key to understanding people's varied healthcare needs. Together, we embrace individuality and share a passion for exceptional care. Join Roche, where every voice matters.

The Position

At Roche, we believe it is urgent to deliver medical solutions right now - even as we develop innovations for the future. We are passionate about transforming patients' lives, and we are ambitious in both decision and action. We commit ourselves to scientific rigor, unassailable ethics, and access to medical innovations for all. We are now doing what patients need next.

Roche Pharma Research and Early Development (pRED) is continuously evolving, and we are seeking a motivated Scientist to join our team. In this role, you will play a crucial part in advancing our understanding of neurodegenerative disease pathology through cutting-edge research on human post-mortem tissues, cell models, and organoid models.

As a Scientist, you will be an integral member of our protein interactions Lab within the neural signaling section, a dynamic unit at the heart of the Neuroscience and Rare Disease (NRD) therapeutic area. The overarching goal of the Neural Signaling Section is to move forward drug discovery projects, from target assessment to early clinical phase, in the therapeutic area of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia, Tauopathies and Parkinson's disease. You will collaborate closely with experts across various sections within NRD, as well as with teams from Therapeutic Modalities, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Data & Analytics, to translate research hypotheses into innovative therapeutics that address brain disorders throughout the lifespan.

Your Responsibilities:

Biochemistry of protein aggregation: You will generate and characterize different aggregation state of proteins (monomers, oligomers, aggregates/fibrils) from recombinant protein, cell, animal and human brain tissue homogenates using biochemical methods such as protein production (E.Coli & SF9), purification (HPLC - IEC, HIC, SEC, IAC etc.), biophysical methods including CD, amyloid specific dyes, light scattering and structural methods such as atomic force microscopy.

Antibody development and characterization: You'll contribute in developing tools for protein aggregation research by preparing antigens from human brain tissues and generate antibodies and characterize them using biochemical and biophysical methods such as dot blot, western blot, ELISA, chromatography, BLI, epitope mapping, flow cytometry etc.

Cell culture: You will assist the team with developing and characterizing Tau mutant cell lines in cancer cell line and iPSC backgrounds as well as organoids. You will establish various protein complementation assays in cell culture.

Scientific Communication: You will present your findings at internal and external scientific meetings and take a lead role in authoring scientific papers for publication.

Mentorship and Collaboration: You will provide guidance and support to research associates, postdocs, and students, fostering a collaborative and productive research environment.

Your Profile:

Educational Background: You have a PhD in Neuroscience, Biology, Biomedicine, or a related field, with a proven track record in protein oligomerization and antibody characterization in invitro and exvivo systems. Strong expertise on Tau biology is required.

Lab Experience: You bring extensive hands-on lab experience on protein interactions using biophysical, biochemical and cell biological methods mentioned in the responsibility sections is essential. Experience working with microtubule assembly and Tau oligomerization is preferred. Experience working with omics technology is a plus but not a must.

Technical Skills: You're interested in biochemical methods such as protein production, purification (HPLC - IEC, SEC, HIC, IAC), western blot, dot blot, epitope mapping, biophysical methods (spectrophotometry, CD, LS, BLI/SPR), AFM and expertise on Tau cell culture models.

Curiosity and Innovation: You have a deep scientific curiosity and a drive to push the boundaries of current research methodologies.

Collaboration and Independence: You work independently and excel in a collaborative, inclusive team environment, with excellent communication and organizational skills.

Join our team and leverage your expertise to drive groundbreaking discoveries in neurodegenerative disease research, making a lasting impact on the future of medicine.

This is a temporary one-year position.

Who we are

At Roche, more than 100,000 people across 100 countries are pushing back the frontiers of healthcare. Working together, we've become one of the world's leading research-focused healthcare groups. Our success is built on innovation, curiosity and diversity.

Basel is the headquarters of the Roche Group and one of its most important centres of pharmaceutical research. Over 10,700 employees from over 100 countries come together at our Basel/Kaiseraugst site, which is one of Roche`s largest sites.

Besides extensive development and training opportunities, we offer flexible working options, 18 weeks of maternity leave and 10 weeks of gender independent partnership leave. Our employees also benefit from multiple services on site such as child-care facilities, medical services, restaurants and cafeterias, as well as various employee events.

We believe in the power of diversity and inclusion, and strive to identify and create opportunities that enable all people to bring their unique selves to Roche. Roche is an Equal Opportunity Employer.