Postdoctoral Scholar — Protein Engineering
Job Description: The Zhilei Chen Medicinal Protein Lab is looking for enthusiastic individuals who are passionate about creating the next generation protein-based therapeutics. We believe that, just like medicinal chemistry, which shaped drug discovery in the 20th century, medicinal proteins are positioned to revolutionize drug discovery in the 21st century. Research in the Chen Medicinal Protein Lab integrates tools from protein engineering, e.g. phage display, yeast display, high-throughput screening and structure-based protein design, with those applied in virology, bacteriology and immunology for the engineering of medicinal proteins. Current projects in the lab center on the engineering of antibody surrogate proteins, especially those that are compatible with high yield production by microbial recombinant expression hosts, for the treatment and/or prevention of viral (Zika, influenza, hepatitis) and bacterial (Clostridium difficile and pathogenic E. coli) infections. The ideal candidate should share our vision for the development of next-generation medicinal proteins. Salary is commensurate with education, experience and NIH guideline
Responsibilities:
- Develop and execute strategies to engineer proteins that strongly and specifically bind a desired target using molecular biology and high-throughput screening techniques
- Utilize protein purification techniques and analytical methods to characterize proteins of interest
- Participate in grant/manuscript/presentation preparation
- Advance research projects through synergistic interactions with both other lab members and collaborators
Preferred Education and Experience:
- First author publication(s) in protein engineering or relevant field; broad knowledge of protein engineering strategies
- Track-record of productive biochemical lab experience including cloning, protein expression (bacterial and/or mammalian), protein purification, and/or biophysical characterization
- Experience with phage display, yeast display or similar molecular evolution-based approaches
- Experience with in vivo mouse studies
- Enjoy taking calculated risks and operating with urgency
Application Instructions
Please email a cover letter, CV and a list of three references to zchen4@tamu.edu
Environment:
Texas A&M University is located in College Station, Texas, USA. The university is among the nation’s largest universities with a student body of >59,000 and >5,200 acres of land. With a population of >102,000, College Station, Texas, was the second fastest growing city in the country in 2014. The city enjoys a warm climate, low unemployment rate, low property taxes and housing costs, safe neighborhood, highly rated public schools and access to quality health care. Although a small-town, College Station is conveniently located and is adjacent to big cities such as Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.