Post Summary
The School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences is seeking to appoint a Postdoctoral Researcher to work under the direction of Professor Anne Marie Healy and Associate Professor Lidia Tajber on an Enterprise Ireland funded project entitled “Advanced formulation development of high concentration biomolecules”.
The project will be undertaken in collaboration with University of Limerick, University College Cork, National University of Ireland, Maynooth as well as a number of industry partners, and will be aligned with the activities of the Synthesis and Solid State Pharmaceutical Centre (SSPC). See:
www.sspc.ie for further details.
This project aims to develop an understanding of contributing factors to protein instability using a variety of biophysical and biochemical tools. Instability can be the result of stress during processing of such proteins, and formulation excipients are included in order to modulate such process and storage induced instability. However, excipient selection is often conducted on a trial and error basis and is largely reliant on previous formulation development experience. As a result, the formulation development for each molecule is conducted on a case-by-case basis, and can be an iterative process until molecular stabilisation is demonstrated. This project aims to address these issues by identifying and rationally designing optimum formulation conditions during development and manufacture.
Standard duties of the Post
• Advanced physiochemical analysis of high molecular weight pharmaceutical bioactives (proteins) as well as pharmaceutical excipients. The following characterisation techniques will be developed and employed: thermal analysis, dynamic and static laser light scattering, zeta potential, electrophoresis, UV and spectrofluorometry, mass spectrometry, high performance liquid chromatography, size exclusion chromatography etc.
• Development of liquid and solid formulations containing proteins, design of stability studies suitable for such formulations and development of analytical methods supporting the stability studies.
• Presentation of results to academic and industrial partners and the wider academic community in both written and oral presentation format - excellent writing and presentation skills are essential.
• Co-supervision and mentoring of postgraduate students.
• The post holder will be required to adhere to the specific policy of the project concerning the management and exploitation of intellectual property.
Person Specifications
• Preference will be given to candidates with a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics or Biochemistry/Biophysics but consideration will also be given to candidates with a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Science, Chemistry or (Bio)Material Science. Previous postdoctoral experience in an academic or relevant industrial setting would be advantageous.
• Previous experience of working in a collaborative manner with researchers in other academic institutions and with industry partners is desirable.
• Excellent organisational and time management skills and the ability to deliver to specific deadlines are essential.
• Excellent writing and presentation skills are essential.
• A proven ability to work independently and as part of a team is essential. Applicants should be able to demonstrate an ability to think independently and develop research ideas.
• Excellent interpersonal skills are essential.
Funding Information
• Funding is provided by Enterprise Ireland (EI).
Application details
Applications must include a letter of application detailing how you meet the selection criteria for the post, together with a Curriculum Vitae, the name and contact details of 3 referees (e-mail address if possible) and a short statement of research interests.
Please send applications via e-mail with Subject Line: “EI Postdoctoral Researcher” to:
[email protected]Shortlisted candidates will be invited to interview.
Please note that candidates will not be reimbursed for travel expenses relating to attendance at interview. It may be possible however to conduct interviews by videoconference.
TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES EMPLOYER
