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Salary: USD 110,000 - 165,000 / annual
Basecamp Research is an AI-driven biotech company designing frontier AI for therapeutic discovery. The company has built EDEN, proprietary AI models trained on BaseData—the world's largest genomic dataset with over 10 billion genes from partnerships across 30+ countries and all seven continents. This genetic diversity enables EDEN to design cell and gene therapies, enzymes, and peptides directly from disease information. Basecamp recently closed a $140M Series C (September 2026) led by S32 with participation from NVIDIA, Anthropic's Anthology Fund, and others. The company operates labs in London and Boston and has been recognized by Fast Company's Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Biotech and the FT-backed Sifted AI100 list.
The Scientist / Senior Scientist, Peptide Discovery role is based in Boston and reports to the Head of Gene Editing and Early Discovery. You will lead experimental validation of AI-generated peptide candidates across multiple therapeutic programs—including antifungal, antimicrobial, and cardiometabolic peptides—through cell culture-based functional, safety, and developability assays that directly inform the AI-guided discovery pipeline.
Key responsibilities include: performing mammalian cell culture (HepG2, HEK293, CHO, receptor-expressing stable cell lines); designing and executing cytotoxicity/viability assays in 96-well format; running hemolysis assays using red blood cells to assess membrane-disruptive toxicity; conducting cell permeability assays to evaluate peptide membrane interaction and barrier penetration; supporting immunogenicity risk assessment including in silico T-cell epitope prediction and PBMC-based assays; running GLP-1R activation assays (cAMP accumulation, HTRF, ELISA-based, luciferase reporter formats); supporting or establishing stable reporter/receptor cell lines; generating and fitting dose-response curves for potency (EC50) and safety (LC50, hemolytic/cytotoxic thresholds); preparing peptide stock and working solutions from synthesized peptides; supporting MIC-style fungal susceptibility assays; maintaining detailed lab notebooks and contributing to data summaries and reports; collaborating with computational/AI teams to relay experimental results informing peptide down-selection; and independently designing cell-based assay strategies for emerging peptide targets. Senior Scientists additionally mentor junior staff and help set assay development priorities.
You will work in a lean, collaborative, global team of biologists, engineers, ML scientists, and field explorers united by a sense of adventure and belief that AI, biology, and data will result in new medicines for patients with few options today.
REQUIREMENTS:
- PhD in molecular biology, biochemistry, microbiology, genetics, bioengineering, or related life sciences field; OR MSc with equivalent hands-on laboratory experience
- Strong, demonstrated hands-on experience with mammalian cell culture (aseptic technique, cell line maintenance, viability/cytotoxicity assays)
- Expertise in flow cytometry using both antibody panels and fluorescent reporters
- Experience with cell-based functional/signaling assays (cAMP, GPCR activation assays, reporter gene assays); GLP-1R experience is a strong plus but not required if you have transferable GPCR assay experience
- Basic familiarity with microbial/fungal handling, or willingness to be trained
- Ability to work independently on multi-step, multi-day assay timelines
- Experience with hemolysis assays or other peptide membrane-toxicity screens
- Knowledge of assays tracking peptide half-life in human serum, plasma, or simulated physiological fluids
- Experience with permeability/barrier models or membrane permeabilization assays
- Experience with immunogenicity risk assessment tools (in silico epitope prediction software, PBMC-based assays)
ADVANTAGEOUS SKILLS:
- Direct experience with GLP-1R or other incretin receptor cell-based assays, or experience generating stable receptor-expressing cell lines
- Biacore (SPR) testing experience to measure peptide binding kinetics
- Peptide handling/reconstitution or synthetic peptide chemistry basics
- Exposure to high-throughput or medium-throughput screening formats
- Prior exposure to antimicrobial/antifungal susceptibility testing (MIC/MBC) against fungal pathogens
- Mechanism-driven mindset: understanding how therapeutics work (cell wall disruption, membrane depolarization, intracellular targeting) to inform secondary assay design
- Mechanistic understanding of gene editing tools (nucleases, base editors, transposons, retrotransposons, recombinases)
- Familiarity with modern software and AI tools; AI-first mindset
- Excellent communication skills with ability to work with technical and non-technical stakeholders
- Proactive problem-solving, resourcefulness, and independence
- Comfort with ambiguity and rapid change; adaptability and flexibility
- High degree of ownership and drive; pride in delivering quality results
