Postdoctoral Fellow: Study of Drug Toxicity by Spatial Single-Cell Metabolomics and Proteomics
Postdoctoral Fellow: Study of Drug Toxicity by Spatial Single-Cell Metabolomics and Proteomics
The Discovery Centre, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, UK
Competitive Salary, Bonus & Benefits
About the Postdoc Programme:
Bring your expertise, apply your knowledge, follow the science, and make a difference. AstraZeneca’s Postdoc Programme is for self-motivated individuals looking to deliver exciting, high-impact projects in a collaborative, engaging, and innovative environment. You'll work with multidisciplinary scientific teams from a diverse set of backgrounds and a premier academic mentor specifically aligned to your project. Our postdocs are respected as specialists, encouraged to speak up, and supported to share their research at conferences, publish papers, achieve their goals, and make a difference to our patients.
This is a 3-year programme. The first 2 years will be a Fixed Term Contract, with a 1-year extension based on merit.
What you'll do:
The Clinical Pharmacology & Safety Sciences (CPSS) group in the BioPharmaceutical R&D function supports all AstraZeneca therapy areas from early-stage drug discovery to late-stage clinical development. Within CPSS, the Integrated Bioanalysis (IBA) department crafts and implements bioanalytical strategies and innovations to support all modalities of AstraZeneca’s portfolio, from discovery to lifecycle management, providing critical decision-making bioanalytical data and interpretation.
This phenomenal Postdoctoral Fellow opportunity involves working in open and collaborative teams in the CPSS group and IBA department in partnership with the Alexandrov team at the Department of Pharmacology at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) and the SpaceM startup in Copenhagen. The Alexandrov team are leaders in developing technologies for spatial single-cell metabolomics with a track record of providing solutions to the community and commercializing them in partnership with field-leading companies. UCSD is among the leading research organizations in the US and worldwide in pharmacology and toxicology. SpaceM is an early deep technology startup striving to improve drug discovery and therapy development with spatial single-cell metabolomics.
Together and in close interaction between AstraZeneca, the Alexandrov team, and SpaceM, you’ll design and develop innovative spatial and single-cell omics tools to further the understanding of toxicity in in-vitro models. You will use pioneering single-cell omics technology to study metabolic perturbation in in-vitro cell systems via the SpaceM workflow applied to drug discovery and safety assessment problems. You will work with authorities in all aspects of spatial single-cell metabolomics from experiment planning, sample preparation, data processing, to data analysis and interpretation. You will implement proteomics profiling in the SpaceM process to combine multiple omics data at the single-cell level. This will help predict drug-related safety risks in humans through translation to animal toxicology models. You will collaborate with pharmaceutical experts in applying the method to benchmark compounds and AZ drug candidates making impactful decisions for our programs. Additionally, you will have an opportunity to work in cross-disciplinary teams within CPSS with expertise in image analysis and modeling to further bring to bear the impact of your work.
Gregory Hamm, Director from Discovery Bioanalysis, and Sara Amberntsson, Associate Director from Safety Sciences in CPSS at AstraZeneca, will be your supervisors. Theodore Alexandrov, Assistant Professor at the Departments of Pharmacology and Bioengineering, University of California San Diego (UCSD), and a founder of the SpaceM startup, will be your mentor, providing support and external academic expertise.
Essential Skills/Experience
PhD or equivalent experience in life sciences and/or bioanalytical sciences or a related field.
Proven experience in cell culture and mass spectrometry.
Positive and collaborative demeanour, with a desire to learn and apply new skills.
Desirable Skills/Experience
Experience with mass spectrometry-based analytical tools, interest in metabolomics and antibody-based protein detection for sophisticated samples as well as some notion of data analysis related to those fields.
Enjoy working, interacting, communicating with multi-disciplinary teams, and learning through solving problems.
When we put unexpected teams in the same room, we fuel ambitious thinking with the power to inspire life-changing medicines. In-person working gives us the platform we need to connect, work at pace, and challenge perceptions. That's why we work, on average, a minimum of three days per week from the office. But that doesn't mean we're not flexible. We balance the expectation of being in the office while respecting individual flexibility. Join us in our unique and bold world.
AstraZeneca is driven by a shared belief in what science can do. We are committed to making a difference by fusing data and technology with scientific innovations to achieve breakthroughs that positively impact patients' lives globally. Our inclusive environment encourages collaboration across academia, biotechs, and industry partners to create swift impacts on disease treatment.
Ready to make a difference? Apply now!
AZ’s Postdoc Programme: https://careers.astrazeneca.com/postdocs-astrazeneca
Life at AstraZeneca: https://careers.astrazeneca.com/life-at-astrazeneca
This is what we’re made of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmFx_jr2eFo&t=2s
AstraZeneca embraces diversity and equality of opportunity. We are committed to building an inclusive and diverse team representing all backgrounds, with as wide a range of perspectives as possible, and harnessing industry-leading skills. We believe that the more inclusive we are, the better our work will be. We welcome and consider applications to join our team from all qualified candidates, regardless of their characteristics. We comply with all applicable laws and regulations on non-discrimination in employment (and recruitment), as well as work authorisation and employment eligibility verification requirements.
