Postdoctoral Fellow - Engineering cells to predict drug interactions
R-224441:Postdoctoral Fellow - Engineering cells to predict drug interactions
Location: Gothenburg
Competitive Salary, Bonus & Benefits Package
Do you have expertise in, and passion for, molecular biology and cell engineering? Would you like to apply your expertise to impact the development of drugs in a company that follows the science and turns ideas into life changing medicines? Then AstraZeneca might be the one for you!
About AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca is a global, science-led, patient-centred biopharmaceutical company focusing on discovering, developing, and commercialising prescription medicines for some of the world’s most serious diseases. But we’re more than a global leading pharmaceutical company. At AstraZeneca, we're dedicated to being a Great Place to Work and empowering employees to push the boundaries of science and fuel their entrepreneurial spirit.
About our 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 projects in an encouraging, engaging, and innovative environment. You'll work with multidisciplinary scientific teams from a diverse set of backgrounds and a world-class 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.
Make a more meaningful impact in your career, with greater ownership and accountability to make a contribution whilst making a difference to the lives of our patients!
This is a 3-year programme, with an initial 2-year period and a 1-year merit-based extension.
About the Opportunity
The purpose of this position is to provide early-career researchers with an opportunity to apply and further develop their expertise and skills in the field of molecular biology, specifically at the intersection of Crispr/Cas 9 gene editing and protein degradation using tag-targeting PROTACs. The focus will be on developing in vitro assays to predict the potential for drug-drug interactions (DDI), contributing to cutting-edge methodologies that integrate molecular biology with innovative therapeutic strategies. Postdocs play a crucial role in advancing scientific knowledge and driving innovation in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.
Our successful Postdoc will join AstraZeneca’s DMPK department within CVRM (cardiovascular, renal, and metabolism). CVRM is one of the three main therapeutic research areas within AstraZeneca which deliver candidate drugs into clinical development. The CVRM DMPK (drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics) department is based in AstraZeneca’s world-class vibrant R&D center located in Gothenburg, Sweden. DMPK is a core discipline in drug discovery and development that connects the exposure profile of a drug to its efficacy and safety. CVRM DMPK interacts with other functions in supporting projects along the value chain, from target selection all the way to launch and life cycle management.
Project Focus
In this Postdoctoral Fellow position, you will join a dedicated cross-functional team of scientists from bioscience, DMPK, and medicinal chemistry, who work collaboratively with other experts across AstraZeneca to push the boundaries of science to deliver life-changing medicines to patients. You will explore and expand our advanced selection of in vitro tools to predict the risk for drug-drug interactions (DDI) by developing and applying novel cell models. Ultimately this research will enable us to provide more accurate assessment of DDI risk, preventing unnecessary clinical DDI studies and bringing safer drugs to the market.
You will be mentored by Anna Vildhede (Associate Principal Scientist in Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics), Mariell Pettersson (Associate Principal Scientist in Medicinal Chemistry), Anna-Lina Cavallo (Director in Cell & Gene Therapy), and Sagnik Chatterjee (Associate Principal Scientist in Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics) at AstraZeneca; all four internal supervisors/co-supervisors have their own unique expertise to support you in this cross-functional project. You will also receive academic mentorship and guidance from Prof. Pär Matsson from the University of Gothenburg.
What You’ll Do
The postdoc project spans across multiple scientific disciplines, from gene editing and in vitro cell assays to PROTAC-mediated target degradation and quantitative prediction of DDI risk using static mechanistic equations and/or more advanced PBPK modelling (collaboration opportunity). Through the support of experienced internal supervisors and the academic mentor, the postdoctoral fellow has the unique opportunity to broaden and deepen their expertise in all these disciplines. Specifically, you will develop cell lines engineered to express enzymes and transporters with different protein tags allowing for acute and selective protein degradation to map the role of these proteins in the hepatic elimination of drugs. By incorporating enzyme and transporter contributions into static mechanistic equations and/or PBPK models, you will predict clinical DDI risk and compare with reported clinical data to validate the predictive ability of the in vitro assays developed.
Key Duties & Responsibilities:
Independently plan & execute experiments.
Develop cell-lines with endogenous tagging of enzymes/transporters using CRISPR/Cas9 technologies.
Optimize treatment conditions for PROTAC-induced degradation of the tagged proteins.
Apply the optimized treatment conditions to determine the contribution of enzymes and transporters to the hepatic clearance of selected drugs and use that data to predict drug-drug interactions.
Plan, write, publish high-quality scientific papers and present at key conferences.
Essential Requirements
A PhD or equivalent in Molecular Biology or related field.
Experience in molecular biology and cell culture
Extensive knowledge of CRISPR/CAS9 genome editing
Record of publishing in peer-reviewed journals
Strong planning, organizational, and time management skills
Proven ability to work collaboratively in a team environment
Our Postdoc programme is aimed at individuals who are either:
Within 4-years of obtaining their doctoral degree (PhD, DVM, or MD) - PhD already awarded, or
Students, soon to obtain doctoral degrees (the PhD must be awarded within 6 months of joining AstraZeneca)
Desirable Requirements
Experience in cell assays
Working knowledge of one or more of the following areas: target protein degradation, PROTACs, drug transporters and/or metabolizing enzymes, bioanalysis (e.g, LC-MS)
Reasons to Apply
This is a unique opportunity to make an impact on drug discovery and development by improving the in vitro tools available for DDI prediction and has the potential to help shape AstraZeneca’s clinical trials strategy. You will be interacting with highly skilled experts from multiple disciplines and build both technical expertise and a scientific network inside and outside the company, in addition to publishing first-author high-quality papers.
Why AstraZeneca
The unique positioning of this postdoc within a pharmaceutical company such as AZ, means that you will be able to access large datasets which are not available in the public domain. Moreover, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that methods and techniques you develop will not only be published but will also be used within AZ after the postdoc position concludes, in real-life projects - and that ultimately the work you do will directly impact patients’ lives!
On-Site Working
The position is located at our research site in Gothenburg, Sweden.
As a key member of a research group and taking a leading role on a Postdoctoral project, we expect regular attendance - a minimum of 3 days per week on the AstraZeneca campus. For laboratory-based scientists, this may be higher.
Given the unique positioning of our Postdoctoral researchers, you may have an additional opportunity to spend some time with an external academic mentor. In this instance, you may be required to spend some of your time working alongside them at their facility as driven by the research project.
Your flexibility to meet the needs of the research and the scope of the project is required and we also look to support you with flexibility in accordance with our standard work policies.
Next Steps
If your passion is science and you want to be part of a team that makes a bigger impact on patients’ lives, then there’s no better place to be.
This advert will be running from April 14th, 2025, and, we welcome your application as soon as possible, but ahead of the scheduled closing date of May 11th, 2025. In the event, that we identify suitable candidates ahead of the scheduled closing date, we reserve the right to close the vacancy earlier than published.
Find Out More
Relocate to Gothenburg
Life at AstraZeneca
This is what we’re made of
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.
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