Senior Scientist, Structural Biology

Role Summary

This role focuses on determining protein and protein-ligand complex structures to enable structure-based drug discovery using X-ray crystallography or cryo-EM. Responsibilities include crystallization setup, crystal optimization, EM grid preparation, data processing, structure refinement, and structure determination, with collaboration on protein production for drug-discovery projects.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute protocols to obtain high-quality diffracting crystals for structure determination using X-ray crystallography
• Develop and execute protocols for grid optimization, data collection, and data processing for structure determination using Cryo-EM
• Expression and purification of protein for structure determination
• Collaborate with colleagues to characterize and validate protein ligand interaction for structural studies
• Collaborate with colleagues to optimize protein constructs for structure determination
• Maintains a high level of professional expertise through accurate and detailed record keeping and familiarity with scientific literature
• Work collaboratively with lab associates in a matrix setting to maintain our current structural biology workflow and expand our capabilities
• Present and communicate results with protein science colleagues and project teams

Qualifications

• BS/MS degree in structural biology, biochemistry, life sciences, molecular biology or related field with at least 4 years of relevant research laboratory experience
• Proven in-depth knowledge and hands-on experience in X-ray crystallography or cryo-EM, including crystal optimization, grid preparation, data collection, data processing, structure refinement, and analysis and interpretation of protein structures
• Experience with structural analysis and structure interpretation of protein and ligand interaction
• Excellent collaboration, communication (oral and written) and organizational skills and the ability to present work formally to project teams and scientific research committees
• Strong desire to learn new techniques in the areas of protein biochemistry, biophysics and structural biology

Skills

• Protein expression and purification
• Structural biology methods (X-ray crystallography, cryo-EM)
• Data processing, structure refinement, and interpretation
• Collaborative teamwork and scientific communication

Education

• BS/MS degree in structural biology, biochemistry, life sciences, molecular biology or related field

Additional Requirements

• Experience with membrane protein biochemistry (desirable)
• Experience with multiple expression systems (E. coli, baculovirus, mammalian) and purification techniques (affinity, ion exchange, size exclusion) (desirable)
• Exposure to biophysical methods for validating ligand-protein interactions (desirable)