Histology Scientist

**Make your mark for patients**

To strengthen our **Pathology team**, we are looking for a talented individual to fill the position of**:Histology Scientist.**

**The position is based on our site in Braine l’Alleud, Belgium.**

The **Pathology** team is an integral component of the Non-Clinical Safety Evaluation function of Development Sciences, which as a department provides strategy and support in integrated non-clinical safety, pathology, pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics and DMPK, bioanalysis, immunogenicity, and regulatory activities throughout the lifespan of projects, from target identification through to clinical studies.

**As a Histology Scientist, **you will perform the various tasks required for processing and preparing tissue specimens for microscopic examination and analysis by the pathologist. This includes the development and validation of IHC assays or related technics.

**Scope of the role**: you will be focused on supporting toxicology and Tissue Cross-Reactivity studies for therapeutic modalities such as gene therapy, new chemical, and biological entities across all our therapeutic areas (Neurology, Immunology, Bone, and Rare Diseases).

**You like to work in an environment where you can**:

- Be part of an organisation where patients and innovation are fundamental business values, where your expertise matters, and contributions can be felt.
- Be part of a matrix team and opportunity to be involved in different projects, and collaborate with colleagues and project scientists, discuss ideas, and provide constructive challenges and valuable feedback.
- Opportunity to work independently and flexibly in a dynamic laboratory environment to meet project timelines with mínimal supervision. In addition, you will receive thorough on-the-job training.
- An opportunity to benefit from our extensive discovery capabilities including state-of-the-art histology, microscopy and image analysis platforms.
- An opportunity to collaborate with top-level academic investigators and contract research organizations around the world.
- Live & work in the heart of Europe: near Brussels, less than 2 hours from Paris, London or Amsterdam.
- Freedom to take space to pursue your own ideas and make a difference.

**You will be responsible for**:

- developing immunohistochemical methods (manual and/or automated) for new safety markers (in single or multiple labeling).
- deploying these markers in in vivo studies for new compounds developed by UCB as part of research projects.
- developping automated in situ hybridization methods to correlate protein expression with gene expression. A combination of IHC/ISH will be developed to determine the biodistribution of reporter genes and proteins (gene therapy).

To achieve this, the volunteer will participate in all stages of the histopathological techniques process: tissue collection (rodent species), tissue sectioning, paraffin embedding or freezing, microtomy, staining (histochemical, immunohistochemical, hybridization, or a combination of these).
- He/she will contribute to the continuous improvement of the laboratory's quality (documentation, identification of new techniques, etc.). Depending on the volunteer's profile, he/she will collaborate with the existing team to develop digital pathology tools, from slide digitization to the development of image analysis tools.
- Where appropriate, characterize antibodies, conduct reagent evaluation, and perform reagent qualification/tissue preparation optimization assessments.
- Maintain an awareness of new/emerging techniques and tools relevant to the field.

**Interested? For this position you’ll need the following** **education, experience, and skills**:

- Engineer, Technician, Master or Ph.D. in molecular biology, cell biology, biochemistry or related field with up to 2 years post-graduate training.
- Previous experience of working in pharmaceutical drug discovery and development environment with the willingness to learn.
- Solid basis in histology/histopathology and microscopy with proven hands-on direct expertise in pre-clinical or clinical histology, IHC (colorimetric, fluorescent and other related techniques (in situ hybridization) Ability to critically analyse data, troubleshoot problems, and seek solutions with mínimal oversight.
- Ability to independently learn and rapidly integrate novel technologies.
- Ability to meet critical deadlines with short timelines.
- Strong inter-personal and communication skills.
- Strong analytical and statistical capabilities.

**Why you should apply**

At UCB, we strive to attract passionate and outstanding talents who thrive on change and are ready to bring real value to patients. Working for us you’ll discover a place where you can grow and express your full potential. We place an emphasis on innovation, collaboration, and impact. Through meaningful recognition and a motivating work atmosphere, we aim to provide an optimal experience by caring about and valuing our employees