Cell Assay Associate Scientist - Blue Sky Kinases

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital•Memphis, TN

4d•Onsite

About The Position

This Lead/Senior Scientist position is part of the Blue Sky Initiative “Seeing the Invisible in Protein Kinases” at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, TN. As a member of the Cell-Based Assays team, the candidate will use their molecular biology, biochemistry, and cell culture skills to perform research that translates novel insights regarding kinase structure and regulation in vitro into functional effects in cells. Additionally, the candidate will assist in performing cell-based analysis in high-, medium-, and low-throughput platforms of candidate inhibitors of kinases. The work is diverse providing an opportunity to study multiple kinases, perform appropriate background research, optimize cell-based assays of various types using many different cell lines or primary cells. The Blue Sky Initiative “Seeing the Invisible in Protein Kinases” is an inter-disciplinary project in the Department of Structural Biology. This large-scale project leverages ultra-high field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), complemented with cryoEM, X-ray crystallography, data-science and computational approaches, to characterize the conformational landscape of the human kinome. Knowledge of kinase conformations is then used to discover new biology of kinase function and regulation in cells, understand the structural and functional consequences of disease-associated mutations, and identify novel therapeutic opportunities.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in a relevant scientific area
7 + years of research experience is required with a Bachelor's degree
5 + years of research experience is required with a Master’s degree
2 + years of research experience is required with a PhD

Nice To Haves

Experience in analysis of protein kinases and phosphorylation-dependent signaling events or pathways
Expertise in culturing a variety of types of cells, such as cancer cell lines, primary cells, mouse embryo fibroblasts, inducible human pluripotent cells, immune cells, neuronal cells, and muscle cells
Expertise in multiple methods for exogenous protein expression
Proficiency in the presentation of experimental design and results using PowerPoint or similar software
Experience with mouse models, preferred but not essential
Cloning, PCR, and qRT-PCR
Sterile technique
Cell transfection, transduction, or infection to exogenously express proteins of interest transiently or for cell line generation
Quantitative immunoassays, such as ELISA, AlphaLISA, and Mesoscale Discovery
Immunoprecipitation and Western blotting
Protein-protein interaction analysis, such as proximity ligation, FRET, or NanoBit assays
Flow cytometry and fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS)
Reporter gene assays
Phenotypic assays, such as viability, apoptosis, proliferation, migration, colony-forming, autophagy, endocytosis, secretion, or differentiation assays
Microscopy, such as immunofluorescence, live-cell imaging, subcellular localization, colocalization analysis
Cellular fractionation
Creative and results-driven with strong critical thinking and the ability to learn quickly
Hardworking, well-organized, flexible, and capable of multitasking efficiently in a fast-paced environment
Collaborative and efficient member of teams with diverse backgrounds and opinions
Ability to prioritize work and complete assignments promptly

Responsibilities

Research kinase-mediated signaling pathways, kinase targets or kinase-dependent phosphorylation events, and cellular outcomes of such pathways for assigned kinase projects
Perform appropriate cellular assays and cells in collaboration with senior cell biology expert in the team and characterize cellular phenotypes related to structure-guided perturbations in kinase regulation or function
Evaluate protein phosphorylation, protein interaction, protein localization, RNA abundance (qRT-PCR), protein ubiquitination, and protein abundance using variety of cell based assays.
Develop and perform cell-based phenotypic assays, including but not limited to viability, apoptosis, autophagy, migration, or differentiation
Perform optimization and troubleshooting of cell-based assays
Perform statistical analysis using graphing software or R scripts
Interpret, analyze, and communicate cell-based assay results within the Cell-Based Assays team and with collaborators on specific kinase projects