Post Doctorate Fellow

**Regular/Temporary** - Temporary **Job Title** - POST DOCTORATE FELLOW**Job ID** - 60222 **Location** - Central Campus**Open Date** - 02/02/2024 **Job Type** - Limited Term (>12 months) **Employee Group** - Pos Doc (Union&NonUnion) **Favorite Job** **Department** - Chemical Engineering **Contract Duration** - 12.2 Months **Hours per Week** - 35 **Posting Details** **Schedule** - 35 hours per week - **Education Level** - Completed Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, or a similar discipline - **Career Level** - Prior experience in synthetic polymer chemistry or drug delivery - Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Department of Chemical Engineering at McMaster University in the Sheardown Lab. Working closely with our industrial partner, 20/20 OptimEyes Technologies, this position will offer a unique opportunity to work with an interdisciplinary, award-winning team of scientists and engineers at the interface of polymer engineering and disease modeling. The lab is seeking a highly qualified individual to join our team as a synthetic/polymer chemist, playing a pivotal role in advancing our innovative drug delivery platform towards human trials through further development and validation of this micelle system. **Key Responsibilities** - **Polymerization Reactions**: Optimize the synthesis of acrylate polymers. - **Nanoparticle Production**: Design and implement processes for the production of micelle nanoparticles for drug encapsulation, ensuring reproducibility and scalability. - **Drug Loading & Optimization**: Test different APIs and optimize for their drug loading and release. - **Process Optimization**: Continuously optimize manufacturing processes to enhance efficiency, yield and product quality, focusing on both laboratory and potential scale-up requirements. - **Scale-Up Processes**: Lead efforts to scale up laboratory processes for the eventual transition to commercial production, addressing challenges associated with scale. - **Analytical Methods Development**: Develop and validate analytical methods to characterize polymers and nanoparticles, ensuring compliance with industry standards and regulatory requirements. - **Technology Transfer to CDMO**: Collaborate with cross-functional teams to facilitate the seamless transfer of technology to Contract Development and Manufacturing Organizations (CDMOs), ensuring successful implementation. - Support the maintenance and organization of the laboratory - Collaborate with the team on grant writing or preparing scientific articles when required **Qualifications** - Completed their Ph.D. in Polymer or Organic Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or similar discipline - Prior experience in developing protocols for synthesizing polymers, nanoparticle production and process optimization. - Familiarity with different types of polymers and polymerization methods - Standard laboratory skills for organic synthesis such as column chromatography, recrystallization, precipitation, extraction, use of Schlenk lines, rotary evaporator, and other laboratory equipment - Experience and expertise in using instrumentation for chemical and material analysis such as NMR, IR, GPC, DSC, TGA, LCMS, HPLC, UV, rheology, Instron, and more - Experience with analytical methods development and validation - Independent and proactive work ethic with the ability to thrive in a collaborative team environment. - Excellent problem-solving skills and adaptability to evolving project needs. - Effective communication skills to convey complex scientific concepts to diverse stakeholders. - Comfortable working with mínimal supervision and transitioning from academic to industry settings. **Assets** - Prior experience working with acrylates - Experience with drug delivery - Experience developing HPLC/LCMS method for quantification - Experience working with micelles or other self-assembling polymers - Experience with writing scientific articles with an established track record of research productivity - Experience with scaling up processes toward commercial production or technology transfer to CDMOs - Familiarity with GLP or GMP guidelines **Duration and Funding** The anticipated start date is as soon as possible. For applicants completing a PhD, documentation will be required to confirm that the PhD defense will be completed prior to the fellowship start date. This fellowship will funded as part of a CIHR Commercialization grant. The target salary is $70,000 CAD/year with benefits but negotiable commensurate with experience. This will be a 1-year term, with the possibility of an extension. **How To Apply** **Employment Equity Statement** McMaster University is located on the traditional territories of the Haudenosaunee and Mississauga Nations and within the lands protected by the “Dish With One Spoon” wampum agreement. The diversity of our workforce is at the core of our innovation and creativity and strengthens our research and teaching excellence. I