Lead Researcher in Chemical Biology & Therapeutics

We have an opening for a Lead Researcher in the Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

A successful applicant for this position will be able to fulfill one of two roles outlined below:

• Seek to advance the application of imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) to contextualize drugs and endogenous metabolites in pre-clinical tissues.

or

• Apply a background in label-free MS assay development, evidenced by prior scientific contributions, in drug discovery projects.

As a member of the St. Jude Chemistry Centers, the successful applicant will have access to a skilled team of chemists who will collaborate and build small molecules inspired by discoveries or applications developed through either role. Demonstrated ability to independently optimize associated analytical or biochemical procedures is a requisite skill for either.

Readily available equipment includes state-of-the-art mass spectrometers (7.0 Tesla FTICR, timsTOF, QToF, QQQ), many of which are or can be coupled with micro or analytical flow UPLC. In addition, our group has implemented Echo acoustic dispensing for MALDI-MS assays so familiarity with this technology is preferred.

Workflows have already been established for the analysis of drug in tissues by MALDI imaging mass spectrometry and continue to be enhanced by leveraging the highly diverse imaging modalities on the St. Jude campus.  Advanced sample treatments such as on-tissue enzyme digestion methods, mass-tagged immunohistochemistry (MALDI-IHC) or discovery of new matrices will be encouraged. A successful applicant for this role will be working directly with St. Jude investigators to assess the need and feasibility of applying IMS to pre-clinical studies of tumors.

Workflows have also been established for label-free screening of St. Jude’s chemical libraries. There is particular interest in leveraging an ion mobility analyzer to demarcate mixtures of isobaric or isomeric molecules within a high throughput screening context.

A wide array of other automation and analytical technologies are made available as part of a highly diverse and collaborative environment. This position is expected to exert a high level strategic and practical impact on the research within the department of Chemical Biology & Therapeutics and translation across the hospital.  Assistance in other areas of activities such as SOP-writing, record keeping, reporting, and preparation of data specifically for manuscripts is expected occasionally.

Required Skills:

• Experience with small molecule chromatography and UPLC instrument operation
• Thorough understanding of MALDI-MS analysis
• Knowledge of assay development and data analysis in microplates
• Basic understanding of mass spectrometry imaging concepts
• Familiarity with histotechnology and tissue preservation

Preferred Skills:

• Protein chromatography principles
• Screening analysis software: Graphpad prism or equivalent, Genedata screener software or equivalent.
• Experience with any of the following analytical systems: Bruker hardware and software (i.e. Hystar, MPP, FTMScontrol, Fleximaging, SciLS IMS Analysis), Waters hardware and software (MassLynx), Sciex hardware and software (i.e. Analyst).
• Other IMS Software (other than Bruker IMS software): MSIReader, Cardinal, Metascape, Adobe Photoshop, ImageJ, Rstudio or equivalent software.

• Bachelor's degree in relevant scientific area is required

• Five (5) years of relevant, post-degree work experience is required with a Bachelor's degree
• Two (2) years of relevant post-degree work experience is required with a Master's degree
• No experience is required with a PHD