Biophysicist jobs in Washington

AltPep Corporation is a biomedical startup based along Seattle's Lake Union focused on developing early disease-modifying treatments and detection tools for amyloid diseases by targeting one of the earliest molecular triggers – toxic soluble oligomers. These toxic oligomers are associated with many diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases and type 2 diabetes.

AltPep draws its origins to Dr. Valerie Daggett's lab at the University of Washington's Bioengineering Department. The company closed a significant round of financing in mid-2023 and is currently seeking to expand at its new, state-of-the-art, headquarters located on the Eastside of Lake Union in Seattle.

About This Role

We are actively seeking a protein biophysicist to bolster our diagnostics and therapeutics teams. The successful candidate will be deeply involved in the generation and characterization of amyloidogenic proteins and peptides, assay development, and assay validation. A solid foundation in biophysical methods, including spectroscopy and other approaches, to protein and peptide characterization is required. Experience working with amyloidogenic proteins is a plus. Desirable is a background in in vitro diagnostics, including the ability to substantiate Analytical Validity, Clinical Validity, and Clinical Utility. Previous involvement with neurodegenerative diseases and relevant biomarkers for tracking disease progression is also desirable.

What You’ll Do:

• Generate and biophysically characterize amyloidogenic proteins and peptides for use in quality control and other assays.
  
  
• Participate in in vitro diagnostic assay development, optimization, and evaluation.
  
  
• Contribute to in-house analytical work and clinical validation exercises.
  
  
• Provide assay support for therapeutic development projects.
  
  
• Assist in mentoring junior team members and fostering a collaborative team environment.
  
  
• Collaborate with partner organizations for manufacturing and technological transfer tasks.

What You Bring:

• Must Haves:
  
  
  • PhD in chemistry, biochemistry, pharmaceutical chemistry, bioengineering, biophysics, or related field.
    
    
  • Deep understanding of peptide/protein chemistry, folding, structure, and interactions. Strong in analytical, organic, and physical chemistry techniques.
    
    
  • Proficiency in analytical and conformational protein characterization (including HPLC, MS, CD, functional assays).
    
    
• Good to Have:
  • Hands-on experience with assay development, ELISAs, handling animal samples, chemical modifications, and statistical analysis of results.
    
    

• What Will Separate You From The Rest:
  
  
  • Familiarity with FDA approval process.

Debilitating diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's affect more than a billion people worldwide. Drawing upon decades of academic research, AltPep was founded to create groundbreaking tools to detect and treat such diseases. Although a young company, AltPep has been recognized for its scientific accomplishment and potential.

While still small and nimble, we have grown to a team of thirty talented individuals dedicated to improving the lives of billions. We continue to grow and are looking for talented people to join the team and help us accomplish our mission.

We offer competitive compensation to those joining our fight. The compensation range for a Scientist is $100,000 - $120,000, depending on experience. AltPep takes care of its employees and offers generous stock options, medical, vision, and dental coverage for its employees and their dependents. We understand, and value, life outside of work and offer competitive PTO so you can rest and recharge.