Postdoctoral Researcher – Neurodegenerative diseases

UHN is Canada’s #1 hospital and the world’s #1 publicly funded hospital. With 10 sites and more than 44,000 TeamUHN members, UHN consists of Toronto General Hospital, Toronto Western Hospital, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, The Michener Institute of Education and West Park Healthcare Centre. As Canada's top research hospital, the scope of biomedical research and complexity of cases at UHN have made it a national and international source for discovery, education and patient care. UHN has the largest hospital-based research program in Canada, with major research in neurosciences, cardiology, transplantation, oncology, surgical innovation, infectious diseases, genomic medicine and rehabilitation medicine. UHN is a research hospital affiliated with the University of Toronto.

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Program: Mitacs Accelerate Umbrella - Target 2035 Fellows

Position Summary:
This project focuses on the discovery and development of small-molecule ligands targeting human proteins implicated in neurodegenerative diseases. Using affinity selection mass spectrometry (ASMS) and complementary DNA-encoded library (DEL) screening approaches, the project will evaluate target tractability, identify and validate ligands, and initiate chemical probe development. The postdoctoral researcher will be embedded in an early-stage drug discovery team, gaining hands-on experience from target to starting points for therapeutic development. This will include protein expression and purification, biochemical and biophysical characterization, and high-resolution structure determination (including X-ray crystallography and/or cryo-EM) to guide hit optimization. They will also play a central role in assessing target ligandability and contributing to develop screening strategies, including high-throughput approaches to uncover high-quality starting chemical matter, including E-ASMS and DEL-ML.

In this unique training opportunity, the Target 2035 Fellow will be embedded in a highly collaborative, international research program and supported by a multidisciplinary project team. The postdoctoral researcher will work closely with experienced medicinal chemists, machine learning scientists, automation and software engineers, biochemists, and cell biologists, contributing to cutting-edge, data-driven drug discovery efforts alongside academic, industry, and technology partners. In close partnership with medicinal chemists, the postdoctoral researcher will drive hit validation, structure-activity relationship (SAR) development, and early compound optimization, leveraging integrated structural and functional insights to inform compound design toward a chemical probe. This position offers exceptional interdisciplinary training, high-impact collaboration at the biology-chemistry interface, and the opportunity to contribute meaningfully to an area of profound medical and societal importance.

Appointment, Training Program, and Research Environment

This position is part of the Target 2035 Fellows program, supported through a Mitacs Accelerate Umbrella program. The engagement is offered as a 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 postdoctoral researcher will be embedded within University Health Network’s research environment and will contribute to collaborative research aligned with Target 2035, a global open science public-private partnership focused on accelerating early drug discovery through the generation of high-quality chemical tools and protein-ligand interaction data for artificial intelligence and machine learning. Training is provided through academic supervision, day-to-day integration within UHN’s research teams, and participation in collaborative projects involving a global team of academic, technology, and industry partners.

The positions offer a highly collaborative environment, access to state-of-the-art infrastructure, and the opportunity to contribute to research addressing a major unmet medical and societal need.

Duties:

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UHN is an equal opportunity employer committed to an inclusive recruitment process and workplace. Requests for accommodation can be made at any stage of the recruitment process. Applicants need to make their requirements known.

We thank all applicants for their interest, however, only those selected for further consideration will be contacted.