Research Associate – Westwood Bioscience, Inc.

Applications are invited from suitably qualified candidates for the position of Research Associate at Westwood Bioscience located in the Magnify biotech incubator on the UCLA campus.

Westwood Bioscience is a drug delivery company focused on the development of next generation encapsulated drug delivery nanoparticles based on lipid coated mesoporous silica particles, called Silicasomes. With no demonstrable toxicity in animal studies and significantly improved drug loading capacity, drug retention, stability and target site drug delivery as compared to traditional liposomal delivery technologies, Silicasomes provide the technology for Westwood to become a leader in drug delivery. We are currently pursuing oncology opportunities with a lead product intended to target pancreatic, colon cancers and lung cancers.

We are currently scaling up our in-house capabilities in R&D, process development and manufacturing, and in the process of tech transfer to CMO for GMP production. This is an opportunity to join the collaborative environment in an innovative company that aims to make a real impact in the field of nanocarrier drug delivery.

Role Summary:

We are seeking an experienced, bright, enthusiastic, proactive, and motivated Research Associate to join our team and support the development of the Silicasome platform. This individual will work closely with the team to establish and optimize the manufacturing process at pilot scale within the company’s facility at the UCLA biotech incubator, help coordinate scale-up production at our contract manufacturing site, and act as a quality control personal. The ideal candidate should have experience working independently in a chemistry, materials, or biology laboratory, have exceptional attention to detail, and be able to critically analyze data and communicate results to the team, and have quality control experience. You must bring a proactive attitude and sense of purpose to the job, thrive in a fast-paced environment, excel at managing multiple priorities, able to effectively communicate with all levels within the organization and have the prior work experience needed to quickly learn protocols.

Key Responsibilities:

• Plan and execute experiments, accurately record details, perform in-depth data analysis, and report these results through documentation and presentations.
• Act as a quality control personal.
• Identify problems, determine the appropriate actions and implement solutions with support of a supervisor.
• Assist with process optimization and scale-up, equipment validation and qualification, perform stability studies and materials management.
• Participate in production activities under the supervision of our senior scientist at the Westwood facility for the manufacture of our Silicasome products.
• Assist with technology transfer to third party CMOs.
• Assist in analytical methods development and characterization of manufactured Silicasome productions.
• Support continued development and in-process improvements to streamline process operations and optimize manufacturing methods.
• Assist in the preparation and review of GLP (good laboratory practice) and GMP (good manufacturing practice) documentation including SOPs and batch records, as well as to support Quality Management staff for documenting or implementing change controls, process deviations, and risk assessments to ensure the highest levels of controls and traceability.

Preferred experience:

• BS/MS in chemistry, material science, or related field.
• Relevant laboratory experience in the field of nanotherapeutics, with expertise on nanocarrier synthesis (e.g. mesoporous silica nanoparticles, liposomes), characterization (e.g. DLS, UV-vis, BET, TEM, TGA), and the assessment of the pharmacokinetics and drug delivery to disease sites.
• Experience in analytical methodologies for nanocarriers.
• Experience in cell culture.
• Experience in quality control.
• Have excellent communication, planning, organizational, and time management skills.

Additional Desirable Skills:

• Familiar with searching scientific literature.
• Skilled with use of Microsoft office software, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Qualifications:

• BS/MS in a relevant field with evidence of being able to interface physicochemical sciences with biology in the field of nanotherapeutics.
• Minimum 2 years relevant post-graduate laboratory experience.
• Quality control experience.
• Successful candidates will also possess excellent communication skills and be highly organized with a desire to solve challenging scientific questions whilst working in a dynamic, fast paced team environment.
• Strong commitment to the assigned tasks and striving for on-time delivery.

This is based in Los Angeles, CA, with a competitive salary and benefits package to commensurate with experience.

Further information about Westwood Bioscience, Inc. is available at www.westwoodbioscience.com

Applications including a cover letter, CV, and the contact details of three referees should be sent to: lcouture@westwoodbioscience.com

Westwood Bioscience, Inc. is an equal opportunities employer.