Postdoctoral Associate

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Baylor College of Medicine seeks a Postdoctoral Associate for a full‑time role in Houston funded by a Michael J Fox Foundation grant to characterize new ligand candidates as targeting moieties in nanoprobes for neuroinflammation biomarkers in rodent Parkinson’s models. The ideal candidate holds a PhD in medicinal chemistry, organic chemistry, chemical biology, or biochemistry with demonstrated multi‑step synthesis, structure determination, ligand binding and biological assays, kinetics, pharmacokinetics, and strong technical writing. Duties include experimental design, protein purification, nanostructure fabrication, and publication. Apply with a CV and cover letter that emphasize drug discovery, relevant synthesis and analytics, neurodegeneration work, publications, and US work eligibility; visa sponsorship is not offered.

Summary

Fulltime position is funded by a recent grant from the Michael J Fox Foundation.  Baylor College of Medicine develops cutting edge nanoscale targeted drug delivery technologies for both diagnostic and  therapeutic purposes. The primary goal of this position is the pharmacological characterization of new ligands candidates as targeting moieties in nanoprobes, targeted to biomarkers of neuroinflammation in rodent models of Parkinson’s disease. The Postdoctoral Associate will hold a doctoral degree in medicinal chemistry, organic chemistry,  chemical biology, or biochemistry and has demonstrated experience in multi-step organic synthesis and molecular structure determination, biological assays and ligand binding assays, reaction kinetics, pharmacokinetics and technical writing.

Job Duties

• Defines problems and possible solutions as dictated by the research projects.
• Establishes procedures to be applied to the projects.
• Designs, develops, or adapts equipment used in experiments or research to obtain desired results.
• Performs ligand binding and biological assays.
• Determines kinetic, thermodynamic, and pharmacological properties of ligands (Ka, Kd, IC50 and LC50).
• Works on protein purification processes.
• Performs nanostructure fabrication and characterization as needed for projects.
• Compiles, writes, and submits project results for publication. 
• Performs responsible research work that requires planning, completing, and occasionally supervising limited research projects in accordance with general plans approved by the supervisor. 
• Performs other job-related duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

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

Preferred Qualifications

• PhD degree in medicinal chemistry, organic chemistry,  chemical biology, or biochemistry.
• Five years of experience in multi-step organic synthesis and scientific research experience in any core areas of medicinal chemistry and drug discovery. 
• Skills required for satisfactory performance in this job include Multi-step Organic Synthesis, Chromatographic techniques (HPLC, MPLC, Flash), molecular characterization and structure determination techniques (NMR, HRMS, MALDI, UV-VIS), Quantitative Analysis, Qualitative Analysis, Data Analysis, operation of Standard Laboratory Equipment, and Technical writing.  
• Hands-on experience in Protein purification, Confocal Microscopy techniques, UV-Visible Spectroscopy techniques; 96-Well Plate Readers; and Cell Assays are a big plus.  

Work Authorization Requirement:

This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship. Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States at the time of application and throughout the duration of employment. 

Baylor College of Medicine is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/Equal Access Employer.