Research Associate

About Earli

Earli exists to make cancer a benign experience. Earli does that by turning cancers against themselves: genetically forcing them to reveal themselves early, and then kill themselves - precisely and clearly distinguishable from benign lesions at early stages. Based on original technology from Stanford's renowned Gambhir lab, Earli designs genetic constructs that are injected intravenously that turn cancer cells against themselves. These programmable synthetic promoter-reporter sequences "flip on" like light switches only in dysregulated cancer cells and turn them into "factories." The cancer is forced to produce either an epitope "docking station" for imaging agents, or a cytokine for immune system activation against the tumor. Thus, Earli's platform enables immediate diagnosis and treatment of early cancers, rather than long-term observation that can lead to deadly metastatic recurrence.

Earli's synthetic target expression platform has evolved over five years of deep bioengineering. The system can now detect broad ranges of patient mutations, distinguish between malignant and benign lesions, and offer independence from often elusive natural biomarkers.

Earli has raised $82m in three rounds from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Khosla Ventures, Emerson Collective, Stanford, Perceptive Advisors, Casdin Capital, Marc Benioff, Sands Capital, Breyer Capital, Tailwinds (American-Korean) etc.

Its Scientific Advisory Board includes Jim Allison (Nobel Laureate, Immuno Oncology), Bob Langer (MIT, co-founder Moderna), Phil Greenberg (Hutch, co-founder Juno), Pam Sharma (MD Anderson), Charlie Rudin (Sloan Kettering), Alan Ashworth (UCSF Cancer Center).

Who You Are

• You share our same sense of dedication, scientific passion and entrepreneurial spirit

• You work well in a fast-paced and extremely focused startup environment

• You are not only smart, but clever and constantly think outside the box

• You are able to make logical decisions in an instant when there is little time to evaluate

• You are a natural communicator and relationship builder

• You stay calm under high pressure and stress

• You have the ability to multi-task in a serious way, with an extreme attention to detail

• You become a representative of the core DNA of the company through who you are

The Position

Earli is currently seeking a highly motivated and detail-oriented Research Associate to join the Synthetic Gene Regulation team. The successful candidate will play a key role in supporting plasmid production and cloning efforts to advance our research projects.

Your Primary Responsibilities

• Perform plasmid DNA preparation from bacterial cultures at various scales (i.e. mini-, midi-, and maxi-preps) using commercial purification kits.

• Optimize and troubleshoot protocols for plasmid production and cloning to improve efficiency, yield, and purity.

• Optimize and standardize methods for plasmid DNA quality control such as Nanodrop, agarose gel electrophoresis, endotoxin assays, DNA supercoiling assays, etc.

• Interface with cross-functional teams to manage requests for plasmid DNA production to support ongoing in vitro and in vivo research projects, and develop processes for routine, on-time delivery of requested DNA material.

• Maintaining an accurate and up-to-date inventory of plasmids and supplies.

• Maintain accurate records of experimental procedures, data, and results in electronic lab notebooks and databases.

• Work with lab manager and other staff to evaluate new equipment, kits, or processes that can improve throughput and/or reduce cost of lab reagents and assays.

• Assist in the development and validation of new molecular biology assays and techniques as needed.

Your Required Experience, Knowledge and Skill

• BS or MS degree in Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, or related life sciences field with hands-on molecular biology wet lab experience.

• Experience with bacterial culture techniques and transformation methods.

• Experience with basic molecular biology techniques (cloning, plasmid DNA mini- and midi-preps, agarose gel electrophoresis, etc.) is strongly preferred.

• Experience with mammalian cell culture, cell-based assays (luminescence, fluorescence, etc.) and quantitative RT-PCR is a plus.

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to troubleshoot experimental issues.

• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously in a fast-paced environment.

• Effective communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work collaboratively in a team setting.

• A 'self-starter' mentality with strong motivation and a keen drive to excel individually and in a team.

• Excellent verbal communication, organization, time management, and interpersonal skills.

• Ability to think independently, multi-task effectively, and fully integrate into a high achieving team environment.

The base salary for this position is $60k-$80k per year.

If interested in applying, please attach a CV or have a well-developed LinkedIn profile for us to be able to assess your background.

We look forward to hearing from you!