Merge Labs
Scientist - Viral Gene Delivery
$120K–$215K
San Francisco Bay Area · On-site · Full-time · Posted Oct 26, 2026
- Education
- Ph.D. or equivalent experience
About the job
Engineers and validates viral gene delivery approaches for neural biosensors and actuators, supporting preclinical testing and eventual clinical translation of molecular brain-computer interfaces.
What you'll do
- Design, build, and test AAV and other viral vectors for CNS delivery, including serotypes, cargo, dose, and administration routes.
- Design and interpret in vivo studies in rodents and, where appropriate, large animals; use findings to optimize delivery.
- Develop assays to measure delivery, expression, cell-type specificity, and tolerability, and evaluate delivery technologies.
What they ask for
- Ph.D. or equivalent experience leading research projects end-to-end in a related field.
- Hands-on experience designing and testing AAV or other viral vectors in vivo to target the central nervous system.
- Expertise developing or optimizing gene delivery modalities.
- Experience developing and executing assays and in vivo studies to evaluate gene delivery and expression in brain tissue.
Nice to have
- Experience advancing a vector through preclinical translation or into the clinic.
- Experience using focused ultrasound to open the blood-brain barrier or facilitate brain delivery.
Pay
USD 120K – 215K base salary
Tools
AAV, focused ultrasound
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative