Staff Scientist

University of Chicago•Chicago, IL

2d•$70,000 - $90,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Jie Zhou lab is part of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Chicago. In close collaboration with the UC Comprehensive Cancer Center, the lab works at the interface of chemistry and biology to uncover how protein post-translational modifications (PTMs) and their associated enzymes regulate disease-relevant cell signaling and immune function. By understanding these mechanisms, we aim to identify new opportunities for targeted therapeutic intervention. Bringing together chemical biologists and protein, antibody, and cell engineers, we use advanced approaches in chemical biology, biochemistry, protein engineering, and synthetic biology to design innovative molecules, reveal complex biological mechanisms, and help drive the next generation of therapeutic breakthroughs. We employ a broad and integrated technology base, including synthetic chemistry, proteomics, functional genomics, and protein, antibody, and cell engineering. We also leverage combinatorial selection platforms such as phage, yeast, cell, and viral display, coupled with next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics. By integrating diverse expertise and technologies, we aim to advance understanding of human disease and inform the design of future immunotherapies. We are seeking a highly motivated scientist to lead the discovery and engineering of functional antibodies for therapeutic applications. The successful candidate will build on an established viral display platform for the selection of functional antibodies and extend it across a broad range of therapeutic antibody formats and disease targets. This is a hands-on, project-leading role with substantial scope for independent scientific direction, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and first-author publication.

Requirements

PhD in related field.
Knowledge and skills developed through 2-5 years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Nice To Haves

PhD in protein engineering, immunology, molecular biology, or a related discipline.
Demonstrated experience with display-based selection (phage, yeast, or mammalian).
Proficiency in mammalian cell culture and recombinant protein expression and purification.
Experience with flow cytometry and fluorescence imaging.
Must have a record of peer-reviewed publication.
Experience engineering functional antibodies for therapeutic use; multi-specific antibody format design; antibody affinity maturation and developability assessment; NGS analysis of selection outputs; in vivo study experience.
Demonstrated ability to design, generate, and optimize functional antibodies, including biparatopic and bispecific formats, for improved activity, receptor clustering, and tumor selectivity.
Strong experience with display-based selection technologies, including phage, yeast, and/or mammalian display, to isolate and advance antibody candidates with defined therapeutic properties.
Ability to design and construct expression systems, engineered cell lines, receptor-expressing panels, and cell-based functional assays to support antibody discovery and characterization.
Experience assessing therapeutic candidates for potency, selectivity, safety, and efficacy using in vitro assays and in vivo studies.
Proficiency in mammalian cell culture, recombinant protein expression and purification, flow cytometry, and fluorescence-based assay methods.
Ability to analyze and interpret complex datasets, including next-generation sequencing outputs and high-content assay data, while applying rigorous experimental design and troubleshooting skills.
Experience maintaining and improving research infrastructure, including library quality, selection workflows, SOPs, and accurate data and record management.
Strong ability to work in multidisciplinary teams, provide technical training and guidance, and contribute to manuscripts, figures, publications, and grant applications.
Must be able to work effectively in a collaborative, multidisciplinary research setting and comply with all institutional, laboratory, and animal research regulations, where applicable.

Responsibilities

Builds and expands a systematic atlas of functional antibody–receptor pairs, mapping which surface receptors yield productive antibody engagement across tumor and normal tissue contexts.
Designs and characterizes biparatopic and bispecific antibodies that improve receptor clustering, functional activity, and tumor selectivity.
Develops ligand-controlled destabilization domains to enable conditional, dose-tunable control of engineered antibody activity and reduce on-target off-tumor effects.
Designs and constructs protein and cell-based reagents, including expression constructs, engineered reporter cell lines, and stable receptor-expressing panels.
Executes display-based selection campaigns across phage, yeast, and mammalian viral display to isolate functional antibodies with defined therapeutic properties.
Develops and runs cell-based assays to evaluate binder candidates for functional potency.
Assesses the safety and efficacy of therapeutic candidates generated in-house, using in vitro selectivity panels and in vivo efficacy and tolerability studies.
Maintains and improves platform infrastructure, including library quality, selection protocols, standard operating procedures, and structured data records.
Analyzes next-generation sequencing outputs from selection campaigns and high-content assay datasets, with support from bioinformatics resources as appropriate.
Provides technical training and scientific guidance to technicians and students, and contributes to figure preparation, manuscript drafting, and grant applications.
Serves as a resource for collecting data and performing analysis.
Contributes to facilitating and promoting a research project by providing scientific or intellectual information.
Reviews laboratory protocols and training on new techniques.
Manage complex data sets for research.
Performs other related work as needed.