Intern FIT team

For 75 years, Charles River employees have worked together to assist in the discovery, development and safe manufacture of new drug therapies. When you join our family, you will have a significant impact on the health and well-being of people across the globe. Whether your background is in life sciences, finance, IT, sales or another area, your skills will play an important role in the work we perform. In return, we’ll help you build a career that you can feel passionate about.

Job Overview

Internship FIT Team

Background:
The safety of chemicals, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals requires assessment of their potential to cause genotoxicity. Current testing strategies rely largely on conventional in vitro assays using cells in monolayer cultures. For substances that are primarily applied or exposed to the skin, however, these test systems may not adequately reflect dermal exposure, including the protective function and metabolic capacity of the skin. Reconstructed human skin models provide a more physiologically relevant system and offer the opportunity to assess genotoxicity following topical exposure. Two important endpoints are DNA damage, measured using the Comet assay, and chromosomal damage, measured using the micronucleus assay. Implementation of these assays in reconstructed skin models could therefore provide an improved approach for evaluating the genotoxic potential of ingredients and formulations intended for consumer products, cosmetics and topical pharmaceuticals.

Goal of the internship: 
The goal of this internship is to develop, optimize and implement the Comet and micronucleus assays in reconstructed human skin models. The project will focus on establishing robust experimental procedures, defining appropriate controls and acceptance criteria, and evaluating assay performance using selected reference compounds. Ultimately, the internship aims to establish a practical testing strategy for assessing genotoxicity following topical exposure that can support safety assessment of cosmetic and consumer-product ingredients and topical pharmaceutical products.

Job Description

Techniques/methods used during the internship:
- Literature search
- Selecting reference compounds: genotoxic & non-genotoxic compounds & negative compounds (cytotoxic and non-cytotoxic)
- Selecting and handling 3D skin models
- Setup of the assays and dosing protocols
- Testing of reference/proficiency chemicals and scoring of the genotoxicity endpoints (Microscopy and using specific imaging software)
- Preparation of a standard operating procedure (SOP) for the assays
- Testing the reproducibility of the assays
- As we also have access to viable human skin, there is a possibility to make for 1-2 compounds a comparison with human skin

Duration:
30 weeks

Education

No degree required

Physical Requirements

About Safety Assessment
Charles River is committed to helping our partners expedite their preclinical drug development with exceptional safety assessment services, state-of-the-art facilities and expert regulatory guidance. From individual specialty toxicology and IND enabling studies to tailored packages and total laboratory support, our deeply experienced team can design and execute programs that anticipate challenges and avoid roadblocks for a smooth, efficient journey to market. Each year approximately 300 investigational new drug (IND) programs are conducted in our Safety Assessment facilities.

About Charles River
Charles River is an early-stage contract research organization (CRO). We have built upon our foundation of laboratory animal medicine and science to develop a diverse portfolio of discovery and safety assessment services, both Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) and non-GLP, to support clients from target identification through preclinical development. Charles River also provides a suite of products and services to support our clients’ clinical laboratory testing needs and manufacturing activities. Utilizing this broad portfolio of products and services enables our clients to create a more flexible drug development model, which reduces their costs, enhances their productivity and effectiveness to increase speed to market.

With over 20,000 employees within 110 facilities in over 20 countries around the globe, we are strategically positioned to coordinate worldwide resources and apply multidisciplinary perspectives in resolving our client’s unique challenges. Our client base includes global pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, government agencies and hospitals and academic institutions around the world.

At Charles River, we are passionate about our role in improving the quality of people’s lives. Our mission, our excellent science and our strong sense of purpose guide us in all that we do, and we approach each day with the knowledge that our work helps to improve the health and well-being of many across the globe. We have proudly worked on 80% of the drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the past five years.

At Charles River Laboratories, we recognize and recruit all talent. We are a company committed to fostering a sense of belonging and work daily in this direction.