We are recruiting for an exceptional Medicinal Chemist / Synthetic Organic Chemist with experience in small molecule drug design and discovery to join the group of Professor Alessio Ciulli as a Postdoctoral Research Assistant within the expanding Centre for Targeted Protein Degradation (CeTPD) at the University of Dundee. This position is part of an academic, multi-disciplinary drug discovery team being formed within the Ciulli group, funded by the Cancer Grand Challenges, within KOODAC (https://cancergrandchallenges.org/teams/koodac). KOODAC's mission is to discover and develop small-moleculedrugsthatdegradekeyoncogenicdriversofsolidtumoursinchildren, as a novel therapeutic paradigm to treat pediatric cancers. The team will develop two types of degraders - proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs) and molecular glue degraders. Both classes of degraders work by recruiting a ubiquitin E3 ligase to a target protein to induce target's ubiquitination and degradation, leading to cell death. The team will focus on developing degraders for the ALK, DNAJB1::PRKACA, MYCN, EWSR1::FLI1 and PAX3::FOXO1 (or PAX7::FOXO1) oncoproteins, which have been implicated in the development and/or spread of neuroblastoma, fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma, medulloblastoma, Ewings sarcoma and fusion positive rhabdomyosarcoma, respectively, in children.

The successful candidate will be expected to design, synthesize and characterise novel small-molecule degraders. You will boost the automated-syntheses and structure-guided Medicinal Chemistry approaches the team are taking to develop degrader drug candidates. You will work closely with the Senior Lead Scientist and the other PDRAs within the team in the Ciulli Lab, as well as scientists at our collaborating partners of the KOODAC project to develop a platform for the discovery, characterisation and development of degraders for the oncoproteins of interest. Compounds that show promise will enter an optimisation pipeline designed to produce orally bioavailable degraders that can be evaluated in the clinic and will dramatically improve cure rates for children affected by these cancers.

Candidate Requirements:

• A Ph.D. in organic chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry, drug discovery or a related discipline.


• High-level of expertise in synthetic organic chemistry and synthetic route design.


• Outstanding academic and/or industrial track record.


• Excellent interpersonal, communication and presentation skills.


• Capable of working in a diverse team, but able to plan and work independently.


• Exceptional time management, organisational and self-motivational skills.


• An open and collaborative approach to science.

Preferred skills:

• Experience with structure-based drug design and studying protein-ligand interactions.


• Experience with the development of PROTACs and/or molecular glue degraders.


• Understanding of pharmacology, metabolism and pharmacokinetics and other Medicinal Chemistry principles necessary for lead optimisation processes.

The position is available immediately and for a fixed-term of 5 years. For further information about this role contact Professor Alessio Ciulli at a.ciulli@dundee.ac.uk. To find out more about Group please visit the group's Website