Postdoctoral Associate

Summary

The Center for Drug Discovery ( https://www.bcm.edu/research/centers/drug-discovery ) is a strategic research center established at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) in Houston, Texas. The mission of the Center for Drug Discovery is to establish novel discovery technologies that enable rapid and cost-effective drug discovery within the academic community. We are seeking highly skilled and motivated postdoctoral fellows with expertise in biophysical chemistry to join the Center for Drug Discovery.

We seek a protein scientist with solid track record of biophysically characterizing protein-ligand complexes. Applicant will be a team player who can effectively balance both independent and shared projects while working with interdisciplinary groups. They will need to be able to effectively communicate and interact with individuals from a broad range of scientific backgrounds.

Job Duties

• Plans, directs and conducts research experiments.
• Evaluates and analyzes data.
• Develops research techniques and performs applications required for specific research projects.
• Conducts literature searches and summarizes information in an appropriate format for a particular study.
• Documents results of experiments and reports to principal investigators.
• Participates in early stage drug discovery efforts in collaboration with biological scientists throughout the academic community, with a goal of bringing new treatments to patients with unmet medical needs.
• Qualifiesas a protein scientist with solid track record of biophysically characterizing protein-ligand complexes.

Minimum Qualifications

• MD or Ph.D. in Basic Science, Health Science, or a related field.
• No experience required.

Preferred Qualifications

• >4 years of hands-on laboratory experience in in the biophysical characterization of protein-small molecule interactions and a strong grasp on the application of biophysical chemistry to all stages of Fragment Based Drug Discovery (FBDD) campaigns.
• Well versed in the use of protein structural methods (X-ray crystallography, and/or NMR) and binding assays (SPR, BLI, ITC, FP, AlphaScreen®, HTRF®, and MST).
• Experienced with managing and running FBDD campaigns using automated robotics platforms (i.e. Tecan EVO Freedom), chemoinformatic scripting (PipelinePilot), and SQL database management.
• Able to quickly develop novel protocols for fragment screening assays, as well as rigorous validation assays for hit confirmation.
• Provide guidance and execute gene-to-structure projects for drug discovery targets.
• Design and manage a lab-scale protein purification platform for robust target generation in support of drug discovery campaigns.
• Contribute to multidisciplinary lead-finding project teams by engaging in the following activities: the biophysical characterization of protein-small molecule interactions and a strong grasp on the application of biophysical chemistry to all stages of Fragment Based Drug Discovery (FBDD) campaigns.