Job Description
Reporting to Dr Michael R Edwards (Managing & Scientific Director), Dr Neeta Patel (Quality & Operations Lead) & Chloe Pyle (Principal Scientist). The position is a full time or part-time/flexible position available for as maternity cover for 6-12 months, starting in August 2026. Responsibilities will involve performing routine laboratory work for Virtus Respiratory Research Limited. This will mainly involve laboratory work for Virtus’s ongoing clinical R&D projects and pre-clinical projects. The postholder will also be expected to work alongside full-time Virtus employees as required, perform all work according to Virtus’s Quality Management System and in addition, contribute to the delivery of the business model of Virtus. We are especially interested in applicants who have experience in supporting clinical trials and have worked according to Good Clinical Practice (GCP) and Good Clinical Laboratory Practice (GCLP). This position would suit a junior scientist with good core laboratory skills that would like to gain experience working in industry.
Key responsibilities & accountabilities:
General Pre-clinical & Clinical R&D Requirements
Assist in delivering the scientific R&D operations of the company including:
· Performing lab-based assays (ELISA, qRT-PCR, reporter assays, cell culture, virus growth, etc) for client work and lab aspects of clinical trials including sample processing.
· Offering scientific guidance on development of research plans including clinical study/trial protocols when required.
· Perform laboratory work in accordance with Virtus’s Quality Management System.
· Operate in accordance with GCP and GCLP criteria
· Analysis or imputing laboratory data and QC-ing laboratory data as required.
· Write or contribute to the writing of study reports.
· Ability to work independently as well as part of a team.
· An ability to prioritise tasks effectively while under pressure.
· Attention to detail essential for adherence to protocols and recording of experimental methods and data.
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Pre-clinical in vivo models:
· Perform sample processing for blood and tissue samples
· Perform standard assays such as ELISA, MSD, qRT-PCR, and ELISpot.
· Harvest tissues (BAL, lung tissue, lymph nodes, etc) from animal model experiments
· Perform in vitro experiments on cultured cells