Under the guidance of Dr Caroline Ewens, we are seeking a highly motivated scientist keen to apply small molecule screening science expertise to help progress our cancer drug discovery projects from assay development and hit finding to candidate selection. The successful candidate will develop and run plate-based biochemical and/or cellular screening assays to support the identification and characterisation of small-molecule inhibitors against novel cancer targets using a variety of detection technologies. The successful candidate will be embedded in the Hit Discovery and Structural Design Team but work with multidisciplinary teams.
About you
Key requirements for the role are significant and broad all-round laboratory experience monitoring small molecule binding and function applied to drug discovery. A good understanding of enzymology would be beneficial, as would prior use of automation equipment for liquid and compound handling used in compound profiling.
Department/Directorate Information
The Hit Discovery and Structural Design Team uses biochemical, cellular and biophysical assays to perform small-molecule high-throughput screening and fragment-based hit discovery, coupled with X-ray crystallography and electron microscopy to enable structure-based drug design within the CCDD. These methodologies are underpinned by state-of-the-art protein expression, purification and characterisation capabilities, allowing for the generation of large quantities of high-quality protein targets.
We are based at the ICR Sutton site in the newly opened CCDD building. Pertinent to this role, the team is equipped with high quality tissue culture suites and specialist screening equipment enabling access to numerous technology readouts. Our multimode plate readers include two Pherastars (BMG) and two Envisions (Perkin Elmer). Our biophysical technologies available include DSF/TSA (Nanotemper Prometheus & Biorad 384 well thermal cyclers) and SPR (GE Healthcare T200 & 8K Biacores). The team has access to high content screening microscopes (GE Incell 2200), whole well imaging cytometers (2 Nexcelom Celigos) and live cell imaging instruments (Sartorius Incucyte Zoom and S3). To enable fast and accurate assay preparation, the team possesses a broad range of liquid handling equipment, including pipetting robots, Certus Flex (Gyger), and two Beckman ECHO acoustic dispensing machines integrated onto Access systems for compound dispensing.
You will be joining a team working at the crossroads of the drug discovery activities of the CCDD, where scientific excellence and team science are core values. This position will also offer training in new techniques and support will be available for attending training courses and appropriate academic meetings.
What we offer
1. A dynamic and supportive research environment
2. Access to state-of-the-art facilities and professional development opportunities
3. Collaboration with leading researchers in the field
4. Competitive salary and pension