Kinome Hits-to-Leads, Leads Discovery and Optimization; Research Investigator

The Leads Discovery & Optimization (LDO) group is seeking a Research Investigator to support the LDO Kinome Hits-to-Leads platform. The candidate will have responsibility for developing, validating, and executing mechanistic assays and cellular assays to support the high-throughput screening (HTS) and Lead Optimization kinome platform. The candidate will have the responsibility to characterize kinase targets, their inhibitors as well as perform profiling and selectivity assays. The candidate will be responsible for the development and validation of robust, reproducible plate based biochemical and cellular assays including kinetic and mechanistic studies to characterize kinase targets, biochemical pathways, and mechanism of action of lead compounds. The person will be expected to operate standard high throughput liquid handling instruments as well as plate readers. The person will be able to readily adapt bench level assay protocols to full automation by designing and articulating automated assay flow charts. The successful candidate will be expected to work with minimal supervision and have responsibility to research relevant literature to guide assay design, day to day experimentation, analysis and interpretation of data, and be able to effectively organize and present data in project working groups.

Duties/Responsibilities

Develop and execute kinetic and mechanistic enzyme assays to understand kinase targets, their function and regulation, along with determining mechanism and binding location of inhibitors, and protein/ligand SAR

Design, execute and analyze robust, automated cellular and biochemical assays for support of the LDO Kinome hits-to-leads-platform

Participate on multi-disciplinary teams, including oral presentations of results, and contribution to the understanding of biochemical pathway and mechanism of action of kinase targets

Hands-on design, execution, and troubleshooting of assays to support small molecule drug discovery projects

Collaborate closely with assay scientists to devise optimal strategies for assay development

Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously and be a strong advisor to team members

Identify, evaluate, and implement new technologies and processes to improve assay quality and efficiency

Review and relevant literature and leverage knowledge to solve problems in a timely fashion

Qualifications

Ph.D. with postdoctoral experience and 3-5 years of small molecule drug discovery experience in an industry setting.

Extensive experience in cellualar and biochemical assay design for enzyme target classes, including mechanism of action and kinetic assay development

Experience in assay design across a broad array of high throughput bioassay techniques including fluorescence, Homogenous Time Resolved Fluorescence, and luminescence

Working knowledge of various approaches for assay automation including workstations and fully automated systems

Experience in miniaturizing assays for a range of modalities

Skilled use of the central IT platforms for data handling, image analysis, data reduction and data reporting

Experience with MS Office, MS SharePoint, Spotfire, MS Project and Mosaic software

An independent, flexible and high-energy scientist

High attention to detail, strong written and verbal communication skills and ability to effectively collaborate across groups at all stages of projects