Research Assistant (Protein Production), Australian Centre For Targeted Therapeutics (Actt)

Job Title

Job Description

An excellent opportunity is available for a Research Assistant (Protein production) to join ACTT at Australia’s preeminent biomedical research institute.

About the Position

ACTT’s vision is to transform the lives of cancer patients through a new class of medicines that unlock previously ‘undruggable’ targets.
Led by WEHI, the ACTT will drive a drug development pipeline in collaboration with project partners, Monash University and the Children’s Cancer Institute, with the aim to operate ACTT through a biotech spinout company.
Located at WEHI’s Bundoora Biotech Centre, ACTT will focus on the development of new targeted protein degraders (TPD) against validated cancer-driving proteins as well as a TPD platform technology, with an initial focus on cancers with high-mortality rates.
The role will be responsible for supporting ACTT’s structural biology and biochemistry (SBB) team and for general lab maintenance tasks. The main task will be recombinant protein expression and purification for high-throughput screening, biophysical assays and structural studies. The role forms part of ACTT’s multidisciplinary team, contributing Protein production skills towards the achievement of project milestones, ultimately aiming to develop lead degrader molecules to combat cancer in the clinic. The position reports directly to the SBB Program Lead in the ACTT and works closely with other members of the SBB team (Senior Research Officers).

Selection Criteria
• A relevant Bachelor’s Degree (with Honours) qualification or equivalent
• Demonstrated ability to express recombinant proteins in bacterial cultures
• Demonstrated experience in purifying recombinant proteins using different techniques (affinity tags, ionexchange chromatography, size-exclusion chromatography) on Cytiva AKTA systems
• Experience in sub-cloning target genes into bacterial expression vectors
• Demonstrated ability to plan and execute experiments to meet deadlines
• Attention to detail regarding up-to-date and accurate maintenance of lab book records
• Demonstrated ability to problem-solve within a team environment
• Demonstrated understanding of intellectual property principles and the requirement to maintain
confidentiality in a competitive, industrial, research environment
• Enthusiasm for timely delivery of project milestones in a fast-paced team atmosphere

The following additional skills are highly desired:
• Experience with protein crystallisation
• Experience with basic mammalian tissue culture
• Prior experience working in the field of drug discovery or targeted protein degradation

Terms of Appointment
This position is available for a maximum term until 30 Nov 2025 in a full-time or 0.8FTE capacity. Salary is Research Support Employee Level 5 ($ 76,566 – 87,947). Up to 17% superannuation and very attractive salary packaging options are available.
General enquiries can be directed to Bernhard Lechtenberg, *************@wehi.edu.au
A position description is available here.

How to Apply

Please apply by uploading your CV, cover letter and a document addressing the key selection criteria above in pdf format.

Application closing date: 17 June 2024