KOODAC Team Structural Biologist - UOD1472

We are recruiting for an exceptional Structural Biologist / Biophysicist with experience in studying structures of protein- ligand and protein-protein complexes to join the group of Professor Alessio Ciulli as a Postdoctoral Research Assistant within the expanding Centre for Targeted Protein Degradation (CeTPD) at the University of Dundee. This position is part of an academic, multi-disciplinary drug discovery team being formed within the Ciulli group, funded by the Cancer Grand Challenges, within KOODAC (https://cancergrandchallenges.org/teams/koodac). KOODAC’s mission is to discover and develop small-molecule drugs that degrade key oncogenic drivers of solid tumours in children, as a novel therapeutic paradigm to treat pediatric cancers. The team will develop two types of degraders &#x2013 ; proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs) and molecular glue degraders. Both classes of degraders work by recruiting a ubiquitin E3 ligase to a target protein to induce target’s ubiquitination and degradation, leading to cell death. The team will focus on developing degraders for the ALK, DNAJB1::PRKACA, MYCN, EWSR1::FLI1 and PAX3::FOXO1 (or PAX7::FOXO1) oncoproteins, which have been implicated in the development and/or spread of neuroblastoma, fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma, medulloblastoma, Ewings sarcoma and fusion positive rhabdomyosarcoma, respectively, in children.

Candidate Requirements:

• A Ph.D. in structural biology, biophysics, biochemistry, chemical / molecular biology, or a related discipline
• Highly experienced in molecular biology (construct design, cloning etc.), protein expression, purification and characterisation.
• Strong experience in structure solution and model refinement via protein X-ray crystallography and/or cryo- EM.
• Outstanding academic and/or industrial track record.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication and presentation skills.
• Capable of working in a diverse team, but able to plan and work independently.
• Exceptional time management, organisational and self-motivational skills.
• An open and collaborative approach to science.

Preferred skills:

• Experience with biophysical techniques and assays to study protein-ligand and protein-protein interactions are strongly desired.
• ExperiencewithstudyingofPROTACsand/ormoleculargluedegraders.
• Experiencewithstudyingprotein-ligandinteractionsandstructure-baseddrugdesign.

For further information about this position please contact Professor Alessio Ciulli at a.ciulli@dundee.ac.uk. To find out more about Group please visit the group’s Website.

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