About the Work Unit:

Every major advance in medicine starts with fundamental discoveries that teach us how living organisms work in both health and disease. These discoveries are made in biomedical sciences laboratories that study life at all levels from the individual molecules that encode heredity to the complex associations of cells that form tissues and organs. Vanderbilt Basic Sciences is a tightly integrated research and education division within the School of Medicine comprising four academic departments, eight interdisciplinary centers, twenty-seven service core facilities, and the Office of Biomedical Research, Education, and Training.

Our team of over 1000 faculty, fellows, students, and staff is making new discoveries every day - discoveries that enrich our understanding of biological processes and provide the foundation for new insights into the causes, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of human diseases.

Key Functions and Expected Performance:

• Design and synthesize target molecules with minimal supervision
• Record and interpret analytical data (LCMS, NMR, etc)
• Interpret SAR data and incorporate DMPK data into future ligand design
• Contribute to research so as to merit serving as author or co-author on research publications
• Contribute to a fully functioning discovery team with strong communication skills and be able to supervise and mentor junior chemists
• Be open to collaboration and interaction within the WCNDD team (DMPK, pharmacologists and behavioral scientists) and also other collaborators outside of WCNDD
• Implement creative and productive medicinal chemistry practices that progress the project
• Capable of multi-tasking several scaffolds within the same project, but also open to handling scale-ups for other projects
• Highly motivated individual with the ability to go above and beyond the job description to complete the task
• Looks for opportunities to volunteer or help others within the WCNDD (i.e. proactive)
• Provides a friendly demeanor, polite, positive attitude and enjoys coming to work

Supervisory Relationships:

• This position does not have supervisory responsibility.

• The position reports administratively and functionally to the PI.

Education and Certifications:

• A Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution of higher education is necessary.
• A degree in chemistry, biochemistry, or organic chemistry or similar field from an accredited institution of higher education is necessary.
• BS (>15 years of experience), MS (>12 years of experience) or PhD (>8 years of experience) in Medicinal Chemistry or related field

Experience and Skills:

• Experience in a major pharmaceutical company or comparable academic drug discovery institute with a preference for experience in CNS drug discovery medicinal chemistry.
• Ability to work in a team-based organization is preferred.
• Ability to clearly communicate research results, ideas, and concerns is preferred.