The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center's Therapeutics Discovery Division aims to accelerate the development of new targeted, immune- and cell-based therapies by eliminating bottlenecks in traditional drug discovery. This role specifically supports the Institute for Applied Cancer Science (IACS) platform by advancing drug discovery projects from early exploratory efforts through lead optimization to deliver therapeutic agents to patients.
Requirements
- Apply physics-based and machine learning approaches to small molecule design
- Use structure-based methods to inform compound optimization across small molecule modalities
- Leverage modern computational techniques for hit-finding
- Experience working with modern commercial and open-source molecular modeling software platforms
- Used in silico techniques to guide the design of novel small molecule therapeutics
- Scripting proficiency (eg. Python) and programming competency in a low-level language (eg. C/C++, Java).
- Familiarity with machine learning and AI as applied to drug discovery.
Responsibilities
- Apply and develop cutting edge physics-based and machine learning methodologies to enable advancement of Institute projects through leadership and experimental activities.
- Analyze physicochemical and assay data generated by various studies and leverage results for the data-driven design of future studies.
- Work in close collaboration with medicinal chemists and other project team members in the design and optimization of small molecules with improved potency, selectivity, functional activity, and ADME properties across multiple modalities.
- Evaluate protein targets for "druggability" using structure-guided techniques.
- Carry out virtual screens to identify novel chemical starting points for medicinal chemistry optimization.
- Develop docking models for primary and off-targets to help rationalize SAR and use free-energy methods to help prioritize new analogs for synthesis.
- Analyze compound screening data to identify high-quality leads and develop structure-based hypotheses for their optimization.
Other
- Highly motivated and collaborative individual
- Familiar with the drug discovery process
- Excellent communication, writing, and organizational skills.
- This position may be responsible for maintaining the security and integrity of critical infrastructure
- Ability to satisfy and maintain all requirements necessary to ensure the continued security and integrity of such infrastructure is a condition of hire and continued employment.
