Postdoctoral Researcher – Cell & Chemical Biology

Union: Non-Union
Number of Vacancies: 1
New or Replacement Position: New
Department: Research
Reports to: Senior Scientist
Salary Range: $54,902 - $93,333 Annually
Hours: 37.5 Hours Per Week
Shifts: Monday - Friday
Status: Temporary Full-time
Closing Date: May 18, 2026

Position Summary:
We are seeking a highly motivated postdoctoral researcher with a strong background in quantitative cell and cancer biology to characterize small-molecule chemical probes targeting novel cancer-related proteins. We focus on regulators of posttranslational modifications, such as protein methylation and ubiquitylation, which play key roles in cancer cell survival. The successful candidate will apply cutting-edge cellular screening methods, pathway analysis, cell model development, and direct-to-biology assays for compound evaluation, integrated with machine learning models to guide compound discovery. Through evaluation of pharmacological pathway modulation in cancer, the Fellow will accelerate the discovery of novel therapeutic targets and chemical probes to understand human health and disease and seed drug discovery.

In this unparalleled training opportunity, the Fellow will be supported by a dynamic project team working in close collaboration with experienced biochemists, structural biologists, medicinal chemists, machine learning scientists, and cell biologists from the Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC) and Industry and technology partners.

The Target 2035 Fellow will be supervised by Dr. Barsyte-Lovejoy, Principal Investigator at SGC, Associate Professor in the Pharmacology and Toxicology Department at the University of Toronto, and an affiliate scientist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and will be co-supervised with an industry partner of SGC. This position is part of the Target 2035 Fellows program, supported through a Mitacs Accelerate Umbrella program coordinated by SGC. The fellowship is offered as a temporary full-time postdoctoral appointment for an initial one-year term, with the possibility of renewal for up to two additional years, subject to performance, funding availability, and program requirements.

The Fellow will be embedded within SGC’s research environment at the University Health Network and will contribute to collaborative research aligned with Target 2035, a global open science initiative focused on accelerating early drug discovery through the generation of high-quality chemical tools and protein–ligand interaction data. Training is provided through academic supervision, day-to-day integration within SGC research teams, and participation in collaborative projects involving academic, technology, and industry partners. All research outputs generated under the program adhere to SGC’s open science principles.

Duties:

• As a Target 2035 Fellow, you will work on the discovery of small molecules and their modulated pathways for cancer targeting, establishing target binding/degradation, and advancing the development of high-quality chemical probes for novel protein targets.
• Application and development of cellular target engagement methodology to evaluate target protein binding by small molecules, off-target activity, and protein degrader screening
• Design of novel assays to evaluate the degradation of target proteins in cells
• Design of target-specific screening and cancer cell survival assays.
• Establishment and screening of cell models for lung, brain, breast, and pancreatic cancer
• Harness protein degradation using high-throughput degrader screening and characterization
• Using multiomics platforms to investigate pathways underlying the phenotype of drug response
• Collaboration with SGC teams and industry partners to advance hits from screening into validated chemical probes