Postdoctoral Scholar - Siegel Lab

Position Overview

The Siegel Lab is seeking a highly motivated and independent Postdoctoral Scholar to lead the development of a next-generation enzyme-based electrochemical biosensor platform focused on metabolic health. This project involves adapting established sensor architectures for novel molecular detection in collaboration with an external industry partner currently operating in stealth.

The successful candidate will focus on optimizing enzyme performance and sensor integration through AI-driven evolution, genomic mining, protein design, and wet-lab high-throughput methodologies for validation. This role bridges fundamental academic research with the rigorous delivery requirements of an industry research environment.

Key Responsibilities

HTS Platform Development (Sequence Discovery & Library Generation): Develop a sequence discovery and library generation pipeline incorporating AI-based sequence design complimented with traditional genomic mining and computational enzyme design.

Prioritize candidate variants for experimental evaluation and manage high-throughput library generation.

HTS Platform Development (Functional Characterization): Establish a functional high-throughput screening (HTS) platform consisting of plate-based peroxide-detecting assays.

Evaluate enzyme activity, specificity, and stability under sensor-relevant conditions to ensure signal fidelity.

Iterative Optimization: Conduct protein discovery and engineering to improve catalytic efficiency, substrate specificity, and stability within prototype architectures.

Material Production & Logistics: Manage the production and supply of enzyme preparations for prototype validation.

Provide 100 mg batches of lead candidates and 25 mg batches of new candidates within 4 weeks of request.

Technical Documentation: Provide written reports and documentation of progress, provide partner validation support, including shipment of enzyme lots and detailed performance feedback to support iterative manufacturing improvements.

Professional Leadership: Mentor students and participate in the preparation of manuscripts and grants, support general maintenance and lab operations

1. PhD in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Synthetic Biology, Biomedical Engineering, Systems Biology, or a related field.

2. Technical Expertise: Demonstrated experience in high-throughput cloning and protein characterization.

3. Computational Skills: Familiarity and working knowledge of computational tools and algorithms for protein engineering and sequence analysis.

4. Project Management: Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to manage multiple projects and meet strict production deadlines.

5. Professional Values: Highly motivated and committed to research

• 3-5 required (contact information only)

As a condition of employment, the finalist will be required to disclose if they are subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct, are currently being investigated for misconduct, left a position during an investigation for alleged misconduct, or have filed an appeal with a previous employer.

• "Misconduct" means any violation of the policies or laws governing conduct at the applicant's previous place of employment, including, but not limited to, violations of policies or laws prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of harassment, discrimination, dishonesty, or unethical conduct, as defined by the employer.
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