Post Baccalaureate Fellow- Computational

Job ID: req2652
Employee Type: nonexempt full-time
Division: Cancer Research Technology Program
Facility: Frederick: ATRF
Location: 8560 Progress Dr, Frederick, MD 21701 USA

The Frederick National Laboratory is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and operated by Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc. The lab addresses some of the most urgent and intractable problems in the biomedical sciences in cancer and AIDS, drug development and first-in-human clinical trials, applications of nanotechnology in medicine, and rapid response to emerging threats of infectious diseases.

Accountability, Compassion, Collaboration, Dedication, Integrity and Versatility; it's the FNL way.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Cancer Research Technology Program (CRTP) develops and implements emerging technology, cancer biology expertise and research capabilities to accomplish NCI research objectives. The CRTP is an outward-facing, multi-disciplinary hub purposed to enable the external cancer research community. A major focus of the CRTP is the NCI RAS Initiative with the goal to discover new therapeutic interventions against RAS-driven cancers. In addition, the CRTP hosts the Nanotechnology Characterization Laboratory (NCL) which performs and standardizes preclinical efficacy and toxicity testing of nanoparticles intended for cancer therapeutics and diagnostics, and the Antibody Characterization Lab (ACL) which characterizes monoclonal antibodies or other renewable affinity binding reagents for use in cancer related research. CRTP scientists also work collaboratively with intramural NCI investigators to provide research technologies and expertise.

KEY ROLES/RESPONSIBILITIES

The Post Baccalaureate (Post Bac) will:

• Work closely with a highly collaborative multidisciplinary team of chemists, biochemists, biophysicists, and cell and structural biologists at the NCI RAS Initiative to develop and optimize small molecules to modulate/inhibit RAS proteins
• Work as a member of the RAS Computational Chemistry team
• Aid in performing computational ligand (drug) discovery (screening large virtual databases of hundreds of millions of small molecules using docking software) to target RAS proteins
• Aid in optimizing hits using computational methods including Chemical Informatics and Free-Energy calculations
• Work closely with experimental collaborators
• Stay informed of the latest findings in cancer research and computational methods for drug discovery

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS

To be considered for this position, you must minimally meet the knowledge, skills, and abilities listed below:

• Possession of a Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university according to the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). (Additional qualifying experience may be substituted for the required education). Foreign degrees must be evaluated for U.S. equivalency
• No work experience required beyond the Bachelor's degree
• A background in Computational Chemistry, Computational Biology, or related field
• Knowledge of computer languages (e.g. Python, Shell script, C, C++, or Fortran) and computational methods
• Ability to obtain and maintain a clearance

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

Candidates with these desired skills will be given preferential consideration:

• Knowledge of computational techniques for drug discovery: molecular docking, molecular simulation
• Experience applying structure-based drug design to a research project
• Knowledge of a Unix/Linux operating system, familiarity with running jobs on a Linux cluster using a queuing system
• Ability to balance workload over multiple projects
• Strong written and oral communications skills
• Self-motivation, and ability to work effectively as part of a collaborative, multidisciplinary team

The Postbac Program is for individuals who meet any ONE of the following criteria:

• College graduates who received their bachelor's degrees less than THREE years prior to the date they begin the program
• Individuals who are more than 3 years past the receipt of their bachelor's degree but received a master's degree less than SIX MONTHS before they begin the program, OR
• Students who have been accepted into graduate, other doctoral, or medical school programs and who have written permission from their school to delay entrance for up to one year to pursue a biomedical research project at the NIH

Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE) | Minority/Female/Disabled/Veteran (M/F/D/V) | Drug Free Workplace (DFW)

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