Head of Pharmacology

Director, Head of Pharmacology

About the role

We are seeking an experienced, enthusiastic, collaborative, and highly motivated in vivo pharmacologist to lead pharmacology efforts at Treeline. This person will play a critical role in advancing Treeline’s portfolio, focusing on targets with utility for oncology and other diseases. Through the generation of preclinical data sets using animal models, they will play a key role in generating testable hypotheses that will be explored in the clinic. As the pharmacology leader at Treeline, they will integrate with Discovery project teams and work closely with biologists, lead discovery scientists, medicinal chemists, DMPK, and data scientists to advance drug discovery programs to candidate nomination, enable the identification of lead target indications, and inform the development of clinical assets in early proof-of-concept trials. This person will be central to building our company’s expertise in developing and driving our translational strategies toward the successful development of novel therapeutics.

Responsibilities

• Lead and oversee internal and external pharmacology studies for projects in Treeline portfolio.
• Lead internal capabilities and expertise by leading team of pharmacologists at our sites in Watertown and in San Diego.
• Provide pharmacology leadership to project teams, collaborating with the team to identify and address key project questions, including evaluation of PK-PD-efficacy relationships in vivo, the exploration of PD and predictive biomarkers and the elucidation of target-drug and drug combination mechanism-of-action.
• Lead pharmacology efforts both at internal vivarium as well as CRO’s. Forecast, evaluate, and implement a strategy for the Pharmacology group that balances internal capabilities and external resources taking into account flexibility, speed, and budget impact.  
• Use in vivo studies to identify patient populations and potential combination partners for drug candidates.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Life Sciences, with an oncology focus, with 8-10+ years of experience in biotech/pharma industry, including demonstrated success in the discovery and development of therapeutics for cancer.
• Experience driving small molecule drug discovery programs: advancing programs through lead optimization to candidate selection and first-in-human studies in the clinic. Experience in preclinical development and working with Toxicology and Regulatory Affairs to support IND-enabling studies is a plus.
• Experience leading and mentoring an internal team of pharmacologists - building skills and capabilities, establishing processes for efficient PK-PD and efficacy assessments.
• Experience in overseeing vivarium operations.
• Experience initiating and directing out-sourced activities at CROs, especially in vivo work with rodent models of cancer (CDX, PDX, GEMMs, syngeneic models, systemic models of heme cancer, etc.).
• Translational biology expertise and experience, including a strong focus on mechanism-of-action, pharmacodynamic (PD) and predictive biomarkers, mechanisms of resistance, rational combinations, and the identification of potential new indications for novel therapeutics.
• Experience with immuno-oncology models a plus, but not required.
• Successful track record of being part of a multidisciplinary team spanning different scientific areas – e.g. biology, DMPK, medicinal chemistry, structure-based drug design, toxicology, translational biology, etc.
• Demonstrated experience in advancing innovative new ideas and concepts, inspiring and motivating teams and taking initiative to solve complex biology problems.
• Attention to detail, highly organized and ability to oversee a large portfolio. 
• Ability to interpret and communicate complex data sets to non-pharmacologist colleagues with clarity and frank objectivity.
• Strong written and oral communication skills, excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to work collaboratively on multidisciplinary teams.
• High-level of motivation, ownership, independence, and dependability.

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