Opportunities
at the lab:
Graduate Students
Highly motivated undergraduate students are encouraged to apply to the PhD program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Interested students may contact Prof. You via email.
Post Docs
Over the years, the You Lab at UNC Chapel Hill has been actively pursuing functional polymers for a variety of applications. Given the needs of new projects, we are actively seeking two or more postdocs to join our team in the two directions described below. The starting date is immediate yet negotiable.
1. Chiral conjugated polymers for spin selectivity
The candidate will utilize strong synthetic skills to design and synthesize chiral polymers and small molecules. The candidate will join an exciting MURI team to explore the CISS (chirality induced spin selectivity): a great opportunity for interdisciplinary science in a cutting-edge field.
Responsibilities:
- Lead the design and synthesis of chiral conjugated polymers and small molecules.
- Collaborate with the rest of the MURI team in developing new material systems to elucidate the fundamental working mechanism of CISS.
Qualifications:
- Ph.D. and postdoctoral work in synthetic organic chemistry, polymer chemistry, conjugated polymers, chiral molecules.
- Experience in the design and synthesis of organic molecules and polymers.
- Experience and knowledge of chirality, and chiral molecules/polymers.
- Ability to participate in multidisciplinary collaborations with internal and external teams.
- Excellent written, oral, and organizational skills.
2. Polymer-protein/antibody conjugation for novel therapeutics
The candidate will utilize biochemical, biophysical, and cellular assays, and develop new technologies to explore novel polymer-protein/antibody as therapeutics for different diseases. Strong and ready candidate will have the opportunity to join a startup company co-founded by Prof. You based on patented technologies.
Responsibilities:
- Lead the polymer – protein/antibody conjugation project focusing on polymer-protein conjugation & purification, as well as analytical, biochemical, and cellular assays.
- Lead the drug discovery work on differentiated lead molecules including but not limited to antibodies, multi-specifics, cytokines, fusion proteins, and proteases.
- Maintaining research stage instruments such as Akta protein purification system, HPLC, incubator, etc.
- Responsible for developing new technologies and platforms to stay at the cutting edge of polymer-drug conjugates.
Qualifications:
- Ph.D. and postdoctoral work in Biochemistry, Molecular & Cell Biology or related fields.
- Knowledge and experience applying a variety of bioconjugation techniques.
- Expertise in biology, immunology, and biochemistry to design and implement functional and cell-based assays to support technology development, polymer-protein/antibody lead candidate selections, and mechanistic studies is preferred.
- Experience in engineering and characterization of protein and antibody variants.
- Experience and knowledge of molecular biology, protein expression in bacterial, yeast and mammalian cells, purification and characterization.
- Ability and willingness to learn rapidly, and participate in multidisciplinary collaborations with internal and external teams.
- Excellent written, oral, and organizational skills.
Contact us:
Interested candidates for either of the directions above can send the cover letter, CV, and names of references to Prof. Wei You at wyou@unc.edu.