Postdoctoral Training Fellow in Synthetic Organic Chemistry for PET Imaging

The Cancer Research UK Cancer Imaging Centre, within the Division of Radiotherapy and Imaging, is a multidisciplinary 'bench to bedside' group dedicated to the discovery and development of new imaging strategies targeted to cancer for early diagnosis, stratification and monitoring of treatment response.

A synthetic chemistry postdoctoral position in the broad area of chemistry applied to Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging is available funded in the Cancer Imaging Centre. This post will be based in the PET Radiochemistry group under Dr Graham Smith between the Division of Radiotherapy & Imaging and Division of Cancer Therapeutics. We are a translational group, progressing new imaging probes from initial chemistry concept through to the clinic. All the scientific disciplines are in place to support this. You will work alongside scientists from the world leading Cancer Therapeutics Unit including experienced medicinal chemists, biologists and drug metabolism specialists focusing on new molecular targets emerging from human genome and ground breaking cell biology research.

The post is a synthetic organic chemistry position focused on developing new probes to image disease resistance. The chemical starting points include hits from bioassays, virtual screening and structure-based design approaches. The successful candidate will apply their synthetic organic chemistry knowledge to the synthesis of molecules of interest as imaging agents and then carry out radiolabelling studies on lead compounds. In addition, the successful candidate will develop skills in medicinal chemistry, target design and selection.

Knowledge, experience and achievement in synthetic chemistry are essential. The successful applicant will have ample opportunity to develop additional skills in post, for example radiochemistry expertise where necessary. This is an ideal opportunity for an enthusiastic, committed chemist to make an important contribution to improved cancer imaging agents, while gaining experience and training in an institute with a track record of success.

The appointment will be until November 2018 in the first instance with a starting salary in the range of £29,960 to £36,830 p.a. inclusive, depending on experience. Further information can be found in the full job description.