Job Details

Natural Products Scientist

Job ID: req1654
Employee Type: exempt full-time
Facility: Frederick: Ft Detrick
Location: PO Box B, Frederick, MD 21702 USA

The Frederick National Laboratory is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and operated by Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc.  The lab addresses some of the most urgent and intractable problems in the biomedical sciences in cancer and AIDS, drug development and first-in-human clinical trials, applications of nanotechnology in medicine, and rapid response to emerging threats of infectious diseases.

Our core values of accountability, compassion, collaboration, dedication, integrity, and versatility serve as a guidepost for how we do our work every day in serving the public’s interest.  

 Position Overview:

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNL) is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and operated by the prime contractor Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc. FNL is responsible for pursuing a unique mission in translational and applied biomedical research that is unsuitable for academia, the pharmaceutical industry, or other federal contractors. This open position is ideally suited for a scientist who is interested in applied Research & Development. The selected candidate will join the Natural Products Support Group located at the NCI-Frederick campus.

The Natural Products Support Group provides scientific and technical support to the Developmental Therapeutics Program (DTP) of the NCI Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis (DCTD). The group is comprised of several laboratories responsible for various natural product-based support activities including extraction of plant, microbial and marine biota; pre-fractionation of natural product extracts; isolation and identification of biologically active natural products; performing cryopreservation and microbial fermentations; and in-vitro and in-vivo drug preparations. 

KEY ROLES/RESPONSIBILITIES

• Isolation and structure elucidation of natural products identified in high-throughput screens
• Methods development towards dereplication of the active principles from natural product fractions
• Generating reports and publications in the areas of isolation and structural elucidation of natural products from marine, microbial, and plant sources using state of the art techniques
• Maintaining chemistry laboratory instrumentation, including liquid chromatography systems, mass spectrometers, and an NMR spectrometer

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS

• Possession of a PhD degree from an accredited college or university according to the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) in chemistry, pharmacology or a related discipline or eight (8) years of related experience.  Foreign degrees must be evaluated for U.S. equivalency
• In addition to the education requirement, a minimum of two (2) years of progressively responsible experience 
• Two (2) years post-graduate experience with a strong emphasis on the isolation and structural elucidation of natural products.
• Knowledge of state-of-the-art separation and analytical technologies for the isolation and characterization of natural products from complex natural product extracts
• Expert knowledge of natural product databases
• Training and publications in the area of plant, marine and/or microbial natural products
• Ability to work in a team environment
• Ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance 

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience with large, gram-scale, isolations of natural products
• Ability to perform semi-synthetic reactions on natural products
• Ability to troubleshoot and maintain liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry (MS) systems
• Knowledge and experience using bioinformatics tools to analyze NMR or MS/MS data sets from natural product extracts and fractions

JOB HAZARDS

• This position is subject to atmospheric conditions that would require the usage of a respirator, requiring a medical clearance

Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE) | Minority/Female/Disabled/Veteran (M/F/D/V) | Drug Free Workplace (DFW)

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