Project Overview

The Antimicrobial Resistance Interdisciplinary Research Group (AMR IRG) is a unique translational research and entrepreneurship program aimed at solving the growing threat of resistance to antimicrobial drugs. In synch with the National Strategic Plan for Antimicrobial Resistance, the AMR IRG was launched in January 2018 as a research programme funded by the National Research Foundation, under its Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) programme.

AMR IRG is made up of biologists, engineers, and clinicians from MIT and Singapore, at career stages ranging from student to postdoctoral researcher to research scientist, all of whom work closely with a core team of  research specialists. The group shares a beautiful state-of-the art research facility and is united by a commitment to providing a supportive intellectual environment where members can learn, grow, and contribute to solving a pressing societal problem.

Optimization of antimicrobial use was is identified as a top priority in combating the rise of antimicrobial resistance. Yet, when one seeks medical care for an infection, clinical tools are lacking to rapidly determine whether the infection is bacterial or viral. Multi-plex nucleic acid tests to detect common pathogenic bacteria and viruses from bodily fluids are commercially available and are trusted by clinicians. However, the cost of these tests and the turnaround times required (longer than an office visit) limit how fequently they are used. A team in AMR IRG is working to develop a multi-plex protein panel and test that can address this gap while retaining performance metrics that are required for clinical adoption.  We are seeking a creative, curious, motivated postdoctoral researcher with strong organizational skills to join this effort.

Job Description

• Plan and conduct experiments with the aim of producing superior, cost-effective, and user-friendly medical diagnostic tests.
• Develop technology, including protein engineering and integrated biosensor device development.

Job Requirements

• PhD in Chemical/Biomolecular/Biological Engineering or related field
• Commitment to reading and synthesizing peer-reviewed and patent literature
• Prior experience in these areas will be advantageous:
  • applied molecular biology for biomolecular engineering
  • microbial cell culture
  • assay development
  • validation of tests using clinical samples
  • statistics
  • high throughput screening
  • flow cytometry
  • ELISA
  • knowledge of biomolecular reaction kinetics and transport
  • optical and electrochemical sensing techniques
• Ability to work well with others
• Careful record keeping
• Strong communication skills (scientific writing and oral presentation)
• Skill in experimental design (systematic studies, informative controls)

Interested applicants are invited to send in their full CV/resume, cover letter and list of three references (to include reference names and contact information). We regret that only shortlisted candidates will be notified.