Postdoctoral Fellow - Malignant Brain Tumor Research
- City of Hope
- Location: Duarte, CA
- Job Number: 7312178 (Ref #: 10031457)
- Posting Date: Newly posted
- Application Deadline: Open Until Filled
Job Description
Join the forefront of groundbreaking research at theBeckman Research Institute of City of Hope, where we're changing lives and making a real difference in the fight against cancer, diabetes, and other life-threatening illnesses. Our dedicated and compassionate faculty and staff are driven by a common mission: Contribute to innovative approaches in predicting, preventing, and curing diseases, shaping the future of medicine through cutting-edge research.
A Postdoctoral Fellowship opportunity is available in the lab of Dr. Behnam Badie. Malignant brain tumors urgently need therapies that can cross the blood-brain barrier, silence pathogenic signaling, and spare healthy tissue. Our lab is working in this direction, addressing the combination of oligonucleotide design, smart nanocarriers, ultra-high-throughput screening, and structural biophysics. We are looking for a postdoctoral scientist who will work at the crossover of chemistry, biology, and engineering to advance these technologies from concept to pre-clinical proof-of-concept.
For more information on Dr. Badie’s lab please visit here.
As a successful candidate you will:
· Design ASOs, siRNAs, or aptamers that include chemical stabilizers and targeting motifs for delivery and persistence of activity in the brain-tumor microenvironment.
· Formulate and optimize liposomes and polymeric/hybrid nanoparticles for delivery across the BBB and release in vivo where targeted.
· Design and validate biochemical and cell-based readouts (including reporter lines) to quantify inhibition of trans-membrane proteins like RAGE and its co-receptors.
· Program our HTS robotics platform to interrogate small-molecule libraries; triage hits, coordinate SAR follow-up, and shepherd hit-to-lead evolutions.
· Express and purify soluble and membrane proteins from bacteria, insect (Sf9/Baculovirus) and mammalian (Expi293/CHO) systems; systematically troubleshoot folding, yield, and PTMs.
· Measure affinity/kinetics by SPR and ITC, solve structures by X-ray (or cryo-EM), and perform SDS-PAGE / Western blotting and complementary biophysics.
· Use phage, yeast, or mRNA display to isolate antibodies, VHHs, or alternative scaffolds; employ NGS to map enriched clones and advance leads into expression/characterization.
· Draft figures, manuscripts, and grant sections (NIH, DoD, foundations); present at conferences; coach graduate students and technicians, and help maintain a collaborative, deadline-driven lab culture.
Your qualifications should include:
· Ph.D. (or imminent completion) in Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Chemical/Biomedical Engineering, Pharmaceutical Sciences, or a closely related field
· Hands-on expertise in at least two of the following areas:
o Oligonucleotide therapeutics or nucleic-acid chemistry
o Nanoparticle / liposome formulation and characterization
o HTS assay development and robotic screening
o Recombinant protein expression in multiple hosts
o Biophysical methods (SPR, ITC, structural biology)
o Antibody or scaffold display technologies
· Track record of first-author publications in peer-reviewed journals
· Strong data-analysis skills (e.g., Prism, Python/R, HTS analytics) and clear scientific writing/presentation ability
· Genuine enthusiasm for mentoring and cross-disciplinary teamwork
City of Hope employees pay is based on the following criteria: work experience, qualifications, and work location.
City of Hope is an equal opportunity employer.
To learn more about our Comprehensive Benefits, pleaseCLICK HERE.
Salary / Pay Rate Information:
Pay Rate: $34.00 - $37.55 / hour
The estimated pay scale represents the typical [salary/hourly] range City of Hope reasonably expects to pay for this position, with offers determined based on several factors which may include, but not be limited to, the candidate’s experience, expertise, skills, education, job scope, training, internal equity, geography/market, etc. This pay scale is subject to change from time to time.
City of Hope is a community of people characterized by our diversity of thought, background and approach, but tied together by our commitment to care for and cure those with cancer and other life-threatening diseases. The innovation that our diversity produces in the areas of research, treatment, philanthropy and education has made us national leaders in this fight. Our unique and diverse workforce provides us the ability to understand our patients' needs, deliver compassionate care and continue the quest for a cure for life-threatening diseases. At City of Hope, diversity and inclusion is a core value at the heart of our mission. We strive to create an inclusive workplace environment that engages all of our employees and provides them with opportunities to develop and grow, both personally and professionally. Each day brings an opportunity to strengthen our work, leverage our different perspectives and improve our patients’ experiences by learning from others. Diversity and inclusion is about much more than policies and campaigns. It is an integral part of who we are as an institution, how we operate and how we see our future.
