Project Overview
The Antimicrobial Resistance Interdisciplinary Research Group (AMR IRG) is a unique translational research and entrepreneurship program aimed at solving the growing threat of resistance to antimicrobial drugs. In synch with the National Strategic Plan for Antimicrobial Resistance, the AMR IRG was launched in January 2018 as a research programme funded by the National Research Foundation, under its Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) programme.
AMR IRG is made up of biologists, engineers, and clinicians from MIT and Singapore, at career stages ranging from student to postdoctoral researcher to research scientist, all of whom work closely with a core team of research specialists. The group shares a beautiful state-of-the art research facility and is united by a commitment to providing a supportive intellectual environment where members can learn, grow, and contribute to solving a pressing societal problem.
Monoclonal antibody (mAbs) therapeutics are well established as safe and effective and also as appealing products from a business perspective, with many examples of new blockbuster drug approvals each year. From an engineering perspective, some pain points remain. The development process can be time-consuming and labor-intensive. Additionally, mAbs production involves complex manufacturing operations with costly capital equipment, expensive raw materials as well as rigorous procedures to ensure the tolerability and quality of the final product. As such, antibody therapies are more expensive to develop and manufacture than most small molecule medicines.
In AMR IRG, we are exploring alternative protein scaffolds that can mimic the function of mAbs while enabling simplified manufacturing processes, simplified quality assurance and quality control, shelf stability, and methods of administration that are less invasive than injection.
We are seeking a creative, curious, motivated postdoctoral researcher with strong organizational skills to join this effort.
Job Description
The goal of the project is to identify engineered proteins that can be useful as antimicrobials or as therapies that combat host responses to microbial infections. The approach uses a rational choice of a starting scaffold, informed by manufacturing considerations and a desire to enable non-invasive means of administration. Methods for efficient screening of combinatorial libraries of protein variants will be used, and there is also the oportunity to incorporate machine learning approaches to connect sequence with activity, with the eventual goal of enabling reliable predictive power.
Central responsibilities are protein engineering (generation of candidates to evaluate for in vivo efficacy) and generation of data that answers questions about activity (ability of engineered proteins to prevent invasion of host cells or prevent dysregulated immune response), immunogenicity, and pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics.
The successful candidate will be skilled in planning and conducting experiments, and will enjoy working with others as part of a team. The AMR IRG has an unusual model where several PIs work closely together, sharing lab space, equipment, and a core team of laboratory technicians that support all projects.
Relevant laboratory skills and experience include:
-applied molecular biology for biomolecular engineering
-protein engineering using yeast surface display
-microbial cell culture (bacteria and yeast)
-next-generation sequencing
-high throughput screening
-flow cytometry
-ELISA
-biolayer interferometry
-knowledge of biomolecular reaction kinetics
-assay development
-statistical analysis of data
The successful candidate must have experience in basic molecular biology and recombinant protein production.
Requirements
-PhD in Chemical/Biomolecular/Biological Engineering or related field
-Commitment to reading and synthesizing peer-reviewed and patent literature
-Commitment to publishing peer-reviewed journal articles
-Ability to work well with others
-Careful record keeping
-Strong communication skills (scientific writing and oral presentation)
-Skill in experimental design (systematic studies, informative controls)
To apply, please visit our website at: https://portal.smart.mit.edu/careers/career-opportunities
Interested applicants are invited to send in their full CV/resume, cover letter and list of three references (to include reference names and contact information). We regret that only shortlisted candidates will be notified.
