Research Associate in Medicinal Chemistry and Cancer Drug Discovery

We are seeking an ambitious and creative medicinal chemist to lead drug discovery projects targeting novel anticancer drug targets, in the group of Prof Ed Tate at Imperial College.

You will join a team of researchers at the state-of-the art £170M Molecular Sciences Research Hub at Imperial’s new White City Campus, applying cutting edge hit-to-lead structure-guided drug discovery against critical cancer signalling pathways. Our projects are empowered by multiple novel hit/lead series, an extensive suite of established biochemical and cellular assays and a unique structural biology platform, supported by collaborations with scientists at the University of Oxford, Institute of Cancer Research, and our lab at the Francis Crick Institute. We have assembled a team of outstanding scientists including medicinal chemists, experts in cell and molecular biology, structural biology and pharmacology, positioning these programmes to rapidly progress to in vivo proof of concept studies. See the Tate group website for recent relevant papers (http://www.imperial.ac.uk/tate-group/ ), for example: Mol Cell 2021, 5025; Angew Chemie 2021, 13542; JACS 2020, 12020; RSC Med Chem 2022, 13, 150. Further details will be discussed in confidence with shortlisted candidates.

• To lead a medicinal chemistry team, and actively engage in structure-guided drug design and drug discovery


• To take initiative in the planning and execution of research, and in the development of collaborations with external collaborators


• To identify and develop suitable techniques for the collection and analysis of data


• To conduct data analysis


• To ensure the validity, reliability and confidentiality of data at all times


• To maintain accurate and complete records of all findings


• To make regular internal reports


• To prepare material for presentation


• To work with legal experts to draft patent applications


• To contribute to writing research grant bids

• Hold a PhD (or equivalent)  in medicinal chemistry, chemical biology or a closely related field


• Strong research track record relative to experience, in academia and/or industry


• Experience in synthetic medicinal chemistry


• Experience in targeted drug design and structure-activity relationship analysis


• An interest in translating basic science toward patient benefit and company formation


• Independent capability and creativity in hypothesis generation and experimental design


• Ability to mentor junior researchers, and to set and attain research objectives as part of a multidisciplinary team

Desirable experience for this role includes optimisation of pharmacokinetics and physicochemical properties, molecular modelling, chemoinformatics and in silico drug design, and specific experience in cancer drug discovery.

This is a full-time, fixed term for 24 months, with opportunity for extension. There is a flexible start in mid to late 2022. You will be based at White City Campus.

The Department of Chemistry proudly holds an Athena SWAN Gold Award and strives to provide a working environment where all our staff feel fully supported to flourish and excel.

*Candidates who have not yet been officially awarded their PhD will be appointed as Research Assistant within the salary range £36,694 - £ 39,888 per annum.

For informal enquiries about the post, please contact Professor Ed Tate: [email protected] .

The College is a proud signatory to the San-Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA),which means that in hiring and promotion decisions, we evaluate applicants on the quality of their work, not the journal impact factor where it is published. For more information, see https://www.imperial.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/about-imperial-research/research-evaluation/

The College believes that the use of animals in research is vital to improve human and animal health and welfare. Animals may only be used in research programmes where their use is shown to be necessary for developing new treatments and making medical advances. Imperial is committed to ensuring that, in cases where this research is deemed essential, all animals in the College’s care are treated with full respect, and that all staff involved with this work show due consideration at every level.

http://www.imperial.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/about-imperial-research/research-integrity/animal-research /