Computational Structural Biologist

ProteinQure

ProteinQure

Operations
Toronto, ON, Canada
Posted on Wednesday, December 4, 2019
At ProteinQure, we are building a computational platform for design of protein therapeutics. Our mission is to help to create a world where drugs are engineered, not discovered. We work on treatments for cancer, diabetes, asthma, and cardiovascular diseases, among others, and partner with industry leaders in drug discovery to generate novel therapeutics outside of the conventional chemical space.
Our technology combines computational biophysical models with statistical and machine learning approaches to enable us to search across vast spaces of protein therapeutics. We build and deploy these computational modules using a scalable cloud computing infrastructure and complement their predictions with results from wet lab experiments. We utilize advanced computing architectures based on high-performance GPUs, TPUs and investigate novel methodologies in biophysical modelling and quantum computing.
ProteinQure is a seed-stage company and has raised its seed round of USD $4M led by top Silicon Valley and Canadian investors.
We’re looking for a Computational structural biologist to join our team in Toronto (Canada). You should think about joining us if you want to employ state-of-the-art techniques for discovering structure-guided insights into protein function. Working with software engineers and data scientists, your models will be produce data and analyses of drug variants on a large scale.

Responsibilities

  • Develop novel drug candidates using our computational protein design platform with academic and industry partners
  • Execution of protein design workflows (structure and property prediction)
  • Data analysis and visualization for reports/presentations, delivery to partners
  • Orchestrate platform validation for retrospective and prospective applications (may involve close interaction with experimental biologists at ProteinQure/CRO)
  • Summarize and disseminate research on drug discovery targets, therapeutic modalities, and computational methodologies, to guide internal drug discovery and software development.
  • Work side-by-side with chemists, biologists, computer scientists, and software developers to develop new methods for protein design
  • Assist in the collection/curation of biological datasets (sequence, structure, function data) for machine learning initiatives
  • Identification of platform limitations and development of research strategies to resolve these issues.

Nice to have

  • Peer-reviewed publications on protein engineering, design, structure and function
  • Experience with molecular modelling software (Rosetta, BioLuminate, MOE)
  • Confidence with molecular visualization software (PyMol, Chimera, VMD)
  • Scripting experience (Python) and knowledge of biology data formats (PDB)
  • Experience with biophysical experiments (NMR, EPR, FRET, X-ray crystallography, etc.) or measuring protein-protein interactions (SPR, ITC, phage display)

Requirements

  • PhD in Biochemistry, Bioinformatics, Biophysics or similar field
  • Comfort explaining technical concepts to a diverse audience
Benefits at ProteinQure include medical, dental and vision insurance and health spending account, which you can use on gym memberships or massages. We believe in enabling our employees to be their most productive selves - from extremely ergonomic chairs to standing desks and powerful, portable laptops. Employees are encouraged to buy (and get a refund for) equipment, books, or whatever tools that would make their work life easier.
The office is situated in downtown Toronto, with plenty of great restaurants nearby. Toronto is a great cultural hub (film festivals, theatres, museums and concerts) and supports active lifestyle (amateur sports leagues, waterfront beaches, surfing or even (ice) climbing). Canadian nature offers options for calming retreats and the country is very diverse, welcoming and open to newcomers.
The team composition is roughly 40% software engineers and data scientists, 40% computational biologists, medicinal chemists (including experimentalists performing experiments in wet lab) and 20% business and administration.
Celebration of diversity of all forms is embedded in our culture. Great work is the result of diverse thinking and experiences and we have a workplace where those differences can thrive. Over two thirds of the team was born outside of Canada.
Collaborative learning is at heart of what we do at ProteinQure - we have weekly lunch and learns (often with guest lecturers from outside of the company), attend (and organize!) meetups and hackathons and educate each other about best practices. We support our employees and sponsor attendance to conferences or professional events (up to $3000 a year).
Ownership of work is fundamental to way we operate. People will encourage you to problem solve and figure out how to best deliver results. You’re completely free to take vacation (and run errands) as long as you are responsible and performing. The last thing we want to do is micromanage our team. We try empower our employees, trust them to deliver and hold them accountable.