Job Description The Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR) is the innovation engine of Novartis. We collaborate across scientific and organizational boundaries, with a focus on powerful new technologies that have the potential to help produce therapeutic breakthroughs for patients.
The Bioreactions and Peptide Discovery groups of the Global Discovery Chemistry (GDC) department (link to mentor profile, if applicable) are jointly seeking a postdoctoral fellow to join the multidisciplinary team located in Basel, Switzerland. In this role, you will discover and optimize enzymes as biocatalysts for post-translational peptide modifications, such as heterocyclization, aromatization, and macrocyclization for increased stability and improved pharmacological properties. Building on preliminary work, you will expand the current enzyme portfolio through genome mining, expression optimisation and enzyme engineering. You will assess the enzyme panels via substrate screens and demonstrate the proof-of-concept scalability of selected reactions for the production of natural-product-like peptide libraries. Since we have studied cyclic hexamers in the context of modulating properties like permeability and oral bioavailability, corresponding molecules containing heterocycles in the backbone can be prepared to evaluate their property space in comparison.
The successful candidate will join a vibrant scientific community and collaborate with other postdoctoral fellows mentored by a range of scientists across disciplines and platforms, including chemistry, structural biology, molecular biology, functional genomics, neurophysiology and translational medicine. Postdoctoral scholars at NIBR have a unique opportunity to conduct innovative, interdisciplinary research and are expected to publish their results in leading journals. The postdoctoral term is up to 4 years.
Minimum requirementsQualifications: • PhD in Biochemistry, Biochemical Engineering, Chemistry, Molecular Biology or another relevant discipline (PhD students in the last year of their thesis work, are eligible to apply) • A mind-set of curiosity, creativity, collaboration and openness to diverse thinking, with an enthusiasm to develop yourself and others • Demonstrated track-record of initiating, leading, or being key a contributor to cutting edge research in biocatalytic transformations • Ability to critically interpret results, build new experimental hypotheses, and take calculated risks and smart decisions • Experience in development of activity assays and analytical methods for characterization of products and intermediates from enzyme-catalyzed reactions (enantioselectivity, substrate specificity) by GC, UPLC, LC/MS, NMR • Experience with molecular biology and cloning techniques as well as expressing proteins in heterologous systems • Ability to use bioinformatics tools to analyze genetic data for discovery of new enzymes to create panels exhibiting enzymatic diversity across desired enzyme class • Experience in enzyme engineering, kinetics and structural analysis would be advantageous • Strong publication record • Excellent analytical, communication and organizational skills • Candidates must be able to work independently as well as with interdisciplinary teams
Responsibilities: • Perform own experimental work in the area of design and production of enzymes to support exploratory studies • Work highly collaboratively in a multidisciplinary team to develop novel biosynthetic tools • Integrate complex data to develop scientific hypotheses and to design novel enzymes • Experiment in a first class laboratory infrastructure, deploy novel technologies, and collaborate with internal and external partners to progress biotransformations • Discuss and communicate scientific results at group meetings, and external conferences • Contribute to scientific publications #PDX
For more information about our postdoctoral program, please visit https://www.novartis.com/our-science/postdoc-program.
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