Structural Biology/X-ray Crystallography Senior Research Scientist
Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, VA
Full-time
Science
Posted on August 4, 2023
Summary
The laboratory of Dr. Said Sebti in the Massey Cancer Center and the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia is seeking to recruit a Senior Research Scientist position in Structural Biology/X-ray Crystallography in cancer drug discovery. The candidate must have a proven track record in cloning, protein expression, protein purification, and crystallographic structure determination of proteins and protein-ligand complexes to support Dr. Sebti' s drug discovery projects. The candidate will also participate in performing experiments to understand the mechanism of action of anti-cancer drugs. The research focus of Dr. Sebti' s laboratory is to understand at the basic science level how normal cells become malignant and to translate such fundamental knowledge to the clinic. Specifically, the candidates will be involved in exciting and highly integrated multi-disciplinary research projects concerning understanding aberrant oncogenic KRas signal transduction pathways in cancer and designing novel anti-cancer drugs based on this knowledge.
The candidate will be responsible for: collecting and processing data from in-house X-ray generator and data collection on synchrotrons; high-resolution crystallographic structure determination of protein complexes of small molecules in the context of structure-based drug design; high-throughput crystal screening; optimizing crystallization conditions and growing diffraction-quality crystals of protein: ligand complexes; using structural determination software and structural data to inform and collaborate with chemists and biochemists on structure activity relationship studies; cloning, expression and purification of proteins; molecular docking and virtual screening; characterization of protein-small molecule complexes using a variety of biophysical methods such as ITC, Biacore, MST and/or DSF; performing molecular biology, biochemistry, cell biology and pharmacology experiments to understand the mechanism of action of anti-cancer drugs; design and perform experiments, manage research projects, and analyze and interpret data, make conclusions and plan forward; maintain detailed documentation through electronic and notebook means and writing progress reports and manuscripts for peer-reviewed publications; work independently as well as efficiently within the research group as a team player
Required Education and Experience
PhD degree with 2+ years' experience in solving high quality structures of biological complexes using x-ray crystallography.
Preferred Education and Experience
Experience in cancer molecular biology, biochemistry, cell biology, pharmacology, in vivo anti-tumor efficacy in animal models and/or drug discovery.
Salary Range: Commensurate with experience
Position Details:
Department: Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology
Employment Type: UF - University Employee FT
Restricted Status: Yes
FTE: 100
Exemption Status: Exempt
Contact Information:
Contact Name: Paul Peterson
Contact Email: SOMHR@vcuhealth.org