Sanofi: Research Rare or Neurological Diseases

Overview: 

The Rare and Neurological Therapeutic Area research group is working on understanding diseases with a large unmet medical need and bringing the next wave of therapies to patients.  We employ cutting edge approaches to try to better elucidate key interventional nodes in diseases like ALS, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis. 

Goal: 

Sanofi is seeking a curious and motivated fellow to support ongoing efforts in elucidating novel targets to tackle neurodegeneration in the Rare and Neurological Disease research group. You will help Sanofi understand disease signatures and targets using available in-house and external datasets, as well as experimental approaches. Through the application of these approaches, the aim for the fellow joining is to provide comprehensive training in various aspects of drug discovery and drug development within a fast-paced and friendly environment.

Objectives: 

  • Evaluate novel in vitro models of neurodegeneration using cutting edge iPSC derived cell techniques.
  • Design/conduct/outs source transcriptomics experiments and analyze, interpret, and communicate the results of these studies.
  • Leverage these transcriptomics data to identify novel targets or disease-associated biomarkers in neurodegeneration and validate them in both in vitro and in vivo settings.
  • Working directly or indirectly with project teams to help advance the preclinical pipeline.

Sanofi Component:

The fellow will be exposed to several aspects of drug target and discovery validation in our early research pipeline across multiple diseases and will contribute to project teams in later stage development projects. The goal is to generate a playbook for target validation within the Rare and Neurological Diseases group.
The fellow will get hands-on training in experimental design, execution, as well as data evaluation to build impactful preclinical research studies. The fellow will also strengthen both verbal and written communication through the preparation and presentation of data. The fellow will learn to lead the project and interact and align with key stakeholders to drive the direction of the project.
The fellow will learn and explore innovative technologies, including omics approaches, and learn to integrate them into the research project to build our understanding of neurodegenerative diseases. The fellow will have extensive opportunities to network and work alongside experts within the organization to support and drive career development.

Ideal Candidate: 

  • Biomedical PhD, or relevant clinical degree.
  • The ideal candidate for this fellowship will have some research experience and be curious and eager to learn laboratory skills to advance our mechanistic biological understanding of neurodegenerative diseases.
  • Experience in cell biology, especially in iPSC-derived cell culture.
  • Expertise in bulk and single-nucleus transcriptomics, interpretation of multi- omics data preferred.
  • Strong communication skills, with the ability to develop and discuss experimental goals and research progress with scientists and stakeholders of varied backgrounds.
  • Excellent analytical, presentation, and writing skills.
Location: Cambridge, MA 
Preceptor: Simon Dujardin, title: Principal Scientist I, Lab Head