The Fischer lab  at St. Jude is recruiting a Postdoc for an NIH-funded project that exploits the role ofwater networks in protein binding sites. We are looking for applicants with a strong training in the gene-to-structure pipeline and/or in structural bioinformatics, and a keen interest or ideally experience in ligand discovery.

You will be part of an interdisciplinary team that uses modern structural biology (variable temperature crystallography) to characterize disease-relevant protein states, computational methods (MD, docking, custom software) to analyze and exploit them, and experiments (biophysical, biochemical, cell-based assays) to test the impact of small molecules on biology and disease. 

The successful candidate will have these attributes:

1) For an experimental focus: must be able to conduct independent research in molecular biology and protein biochemistry to enable structural studies.

2) For a computational focus: must be proficient in at least one programming or scripting language, ideally Python, and at least one statistical package.

3) Demonstrated experience in protein crystallography (from crystallization to data collection to refinement, analysis, and deposition)

4) Familiarity with large-scale/ high-throughput approaches, automation, liquid handling, biophysical/ biochemical assays or computational approaches is a plus.

5) Experience in time-resolved serial synchrotron crystallography and at xFELs is of interest.

Our group is housed in the Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. With ongoing investments into exceptional structural and chemical biology facilities, this is an exciting time to join our lab to do cutting-edge research whilst living in an affordable city.

Relevant papers include:

• Stachowski and Fischer (2023). FLEXR: automated multi-conformer model building using electron-density map sampling. Acta Cryst D 79 (5) 354-367
• Stachowski et al. (2022). Water Networks Repopulate Protein–Ligand Interfaces with Temperature. Angewandte Chemie 61 (31), e202112919
• Bradford et al. (2021). Temperature artifacts in protein structures bias ligand-binding predictions. Chemical Science 12, 11275-11293.
• Fischer (2021). Macromolecular room temperature crystallography. Q Rev Biophys 54, E1.
• Darby et al. (2019). Water Networks Can Determine the Affinity of Ligand Binding to Proteins. JACS 141, 15818-26.

More info at: https://www.stjude.org/fischer

• PhD degree in relevant scientific area is required.

St. Jude is an Equal Opportunity Employer

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital does not accept unsolicited assistance from search firms for employment opportunities. Please do not call or email. All resumes submitted by search firms to any employee or other representative at St. Jude via email, the internet or in any form and/or method without a valid written search agreement in place and approved by HR will result in no fee being paid in the event the candidate is hired by St. Jude.