Drug Discovery Biochemist (Small Molecule)
Join a growth-stage pharmaceutical company in Baltimore with a novel approach to addressing challenging disease targets. The Drug Discovery Biochemist will identify and validate new drug candidates using established targets. This Biochemist will have a biochemical drug discovery background specializing in High-Throughput Screening (HTS) of small molecule targets.
*This hands-on position is 80% benchwork.
Responsibilities:
- Utilize High-Throughput Screening of small molecule targets to conduct Lead identification, validation, and optimization.
- Assays include: SPR, AlphaLISA, Thermal Shift, MST, Functional Enzymology, Kinetics, qPCR, etc.
- Design, optimize, and execute high-throughput screening assays.
- Contribute to the strategic planning and decision-making process for small molecule drug discovery projects.
- Assay Adaptation, execution, and data review/interpretation of screening campaigns including HIT ID and HIT-to-Lead and Lead optimization efforts for primary and secondary assays
- Troubleshoot and resolve technical issues related to assay performance and data integrity.
- Generate data for both primary and secondary assays to allow for data-driven decisions.
- Compound and Reagent management including enzymes/proteins/cell lines, critical screening/assay reagents for all screening efforts.
- Present findings and updates to senior management, project teams, and external partners.
Qualifications:
- Ph.D. (preferred) or MS in Biochemistry or related with 5+ years overall experience with small molecule drug discovery.
- Hands-on experience with SPR, Enzymology, and Kinetics is Required.
- Experience with Lead compound Identification, validation, and optimization.
- Strong understanding of the drug discovery process, including target ID, hit-to-lead (H2L), and lead optimization (LO) stages.
- Direct experience in HTS, HTS adaptation and compound and reagent management.
- Experience with protein protein interactions, AlphaLISA, Biacore SPR, Functional Enzymology, radio isotope based assays.