Summary of Role A Higher Scientific Officer position is now available in the Hit Discovery and Structural Design Team within the CRUK Cancer Therapeutics Unit at the Institute of Cancer Research. The team uses biochemical and biophysical assays to perform small-molecule high-throughput screening and fragment-based hit discovery, coupled with X-ray crystallography to enable structure-based drug design within the Unit. 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. The successful candidate will be involved in establishing biophysical assays such as surface plasmon resonance (SPR), Thermal shift assays and ligand-based NMR methods to characterise the function and ligand binding of early stage targets in our drug discovery pipeline following their expression and purification. In addition, the post-holder is expected to take a lead on maintaining our biophysical instruments and developing the Team’s capabilities in this area for small molecule screening. The successful candidate will be an integral member of a multidisciplinary project team and will interact closely with the biologists, computational chemists, medicinal chemists and structural biologists. Key Requirements Applicants must have a BSc in a biochemistry or related biological subject and in depth technical laboratory experience in protein expression and purification methodologies preferably related to drug discovery. Demonstrable practical experience of biophysical techniques, including SPR or ligand based NMR methods is also a requirement. Department/Directorate Information:
The Cancer Research UK Cancer Therapeutics Unit, within the Division of Cancer Therapeutics, is a multidisciplinary 'bench to bedside' centre, comprising around 200 staff dedicated to the discovery and development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. The Cancer Therapeutics Unit’s exciting goal is to discover high quality drug candidates for validated biological targets and to progress these candidates to clinical trial. All the scientific disciplines are in place to make this possible. Our biologists work alongside world-class chemists and drug metabolism specialists focusing on new molecular targets emerging from human genome and ground-breaking cell biology research. This is an exciting and fast moving area of cancer research, and offers the opportunity to work within a multi-disciplinary environment using state-of-the-art techniques and equipment. About our team The Hit Discovery and Structural Design Team uses biochemical 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 Unit. 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 Centre for Cancer Drug Discovery. Pertinent to this role, the team is equipped with a broad range of biophysical technologies including SPR (GE Healthcare T200 & 8K Biacores), ITC (Malvern MicroCal iTC200), DSF/TSA (Nanotemper Prometheus & Biorad 384-well thermal cyclers) and DLS (Xtal concepts SpectroLight600). We also have access to Mass Spectrometry and NMR facilities within the division, used both for sample QC and assays (MS-based assays, ligand- and protein-observed NMR). To enable fast and accurate assay preparation, the team possesses a broad range of liquid handling equipment, including pipetting robots and two Beckman ECHO acoustic dispensing machines integrated onto Access systems for compound dispensing. Last but not least, the team has extensive capabilities to produce recombinant proteins in bacteria, insect cells and mammalian cells, together with six state-of-the-art GE Healthcare Akta Pures for protein purification. You will be joining a team working at the crossroads of the drug discovery activities of the Cancer Research UK Cancer Therapeutics Unit, where scientific excellence and team science are core values. You will be working in close collaboration with colleagues in the fields of biology, chemistry, structural biology, DMPK and computational chemistry, to help design and test novel cancer therapeutics. This position will also offer training in new techniques and support will be available for attending training courses and appropriate academic meetings. Applications will only be considered if made via the e-recruitment system on our website www.icr.ac.uk<http://www.icr.ac.uk> (ID 25), but you may contact Dr Rob van Montfort for further information by emailing rob.vanmontf...@icr.ac.uk<mailto:rob.vanmontf...@icr.ac.uk>. We encourage all applicants to access the job pack on our website for more detailed information regarding this role. Salary: Starting salary c£32,000. Salary range £32,000 to £44,400 per annum. Appointments are normally made at the starting salary. Future progression is based on annual performance review. Duration of Contract: Fixed Term for 2 years Closing Date: 4 January 2022 Dr. Rob van Montfort Reader in Structural Biology and Cancer Drug Discovery Team Leader Hit Discovery and Structural Design Divisions of Cancer Therapeutics and Structural Biology The Institute of Cancer Research 15 Cotswold Road Sutton SM2 5NG UK Tel: +44-(0)20-8722-4364 Email: rob.vanmontf...@icr.ac.uk<mailto:rob.vanmontf...@icr.ac.uk> The Institute of Cancer Research: Royal Cancer Hospital, a charitable Company Limited by Guarantee, Registered in England under Company No. 534147 with its Registered Office at 123 Old Brompton Road, London SW7 3RP. This e-mail message is confidential and for use by the addressee only. If the message is received by anyone other than the addressee, please return the message to the sender by replying to it and then delete the message from your computer and network. ######################################################################## To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1 This message was issued to members of www.jiscmail.ac.uk/CCP4BB, a mailing list hosted by www.jiscmail.ac.uk, terms & conditions are available at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/policyandsecurity/
