Postdoctoral Research Associate

Texas A&M • Houston, TX

12d • Onsite

About The Position

The Postdoctoral Research Associate is responsible for conducting translational pharmacology research in cancer therapeutics within the Drug Discovery Resource Center, with an initial emphasis on the pharmacology of natural killer cell fortification in collaboration with research partners at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The Postdoctoral Research Associate will utilize the skills and expertise granted to them by their education and experience to complete research projects focused on mechanism of action, pharmacologic response, assay development, and translation of positive results toward patient treatment. Writes and may contribute to research papers, articles, and publications. Assists with the preparation and cleaning of worksite. May collaborate with other researchers, faculty, and external partners.

Requirements

• Appropriate PhD in a related field.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in Higher Education
• Experience with molecular biology, protein biochemistry, mammalian cell culture, cell-based assay development, fluorescence/imaging, flow cytometry, or related methods.
• Experience with computational drug discovery, molecular modeling, structure-based design, or analysis software such as MOE, AlphaFold/Boltz, GraphPad Prism, Python/R, or related tools.
• Experience or interest in cancer pharmacology, immuno-oncology, natural killer cell biology, drug discovery and development, translational therapeutics, blood-brain barrier models, or neurodegenerative disease research.
• Evidence of effective written and oral communication, collaborative research, mentoring, and contribution to publications, presentations, or competitive fellowship/grant preparation.
• Excellent verbal and written skills.
• Oral and written presentation skills.
• Analytical skills, including ability to interpret mechanism-of-action and pharmacologic response data.
• Attention to detail.
• Ability to work collaboratively with internal and external research partners.
• Ability to learn and apply drug discovery and development workflows, pharmacology concepts, translational research practices, and career-development planning activities.

Responsibilities

• Under general supervision, is responsible for conducting research into their field of expertise.
• Coordinates research activities with Drug Discovery Resource Center leadership and other internal or external collaborators as appropriate to advance translational objectives.
• Utilizes knowledge and skills granted to them by their education and expertise to complete research projects in their field of expertise.
• Develops, adapts, and performs biochemical, cell-based, immunologic, imaging, and/or computational assays as appropriate to project goals, including assay-development and drug-discovery workflows.
• Analyzes research data, summarizes results, and interprets findings in the context of drug discovery and development.
• Writes and may contribute to research papers, articles, and publications.
• Assists with the preparation and cleaning of worksite.
• May assist, mentor, and/or supervise student researchers and/or graduate students who are working on research related to the project, including training in assay execution, data analysis, good laboratory practices, and collaborative drug discovery workflows.
• Prepares presentation materials on research topic that may be presented to small and/or large groups, including internal program meetings, advisory or training-program meetings, external collaborators, and research sponsors.
• Actively participates in the preparation of required technical progress reports to research sponsors, collaborative project teams, and training or career-development programs as appropriate.
• Participates in interdisciplinary proposal-team activities and assists with organization, data compilation, literature review, figure/table preparation, and technical documentation in support of external funding proposals including personal fellowships and program related proposals.
• Contributes to emerging program efforts in drug discovery and development, including future projects involving blood-brain barrier models and neurodegenerative disease such as DPRIT and related funding opportunities become available.
• Engages in individualized training in drug discovery and development, regulatory and commercial translation, collaborative research practices, career-development planning, and fellowship/grant preparation to support future independent research in industry or academics.
• Participates in structured professional-development activities, which may include advisory-committee meetings, Cancer Therapeutics Training Program or GCC Innovative Drug Discovery and Development activities, and preparation for K99/R00 or comparable career-development opportunities as appropriate Remaining.

Benefits

• Medical, prescription drug, dental, vision, life and AD&D, flexible spending accounts , and long-term disability insurance with Texas A&M contributing to employee health and basic life premiums
• 12-15 days of annual paid holidays
• Up to eight hours of paid sick leave and at least eight hours of paid vacation each month
• Automatic enrollment in the Teacher Retirement System of Texas
• Free exercise programs and release time
• All employees have access to free LinkedIn Learning training, webinars, and limited financial support to attend conferences, workshops, and more
• Educational release time and tuition assistance for completing a degree while a Texas A&M employee

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree