Post doctoral position in computational pharmaceutics - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Uppsala University hereby declare the following position to be open for application:
Post doctoral position in computational pharmaceutics at the Department of Pharmacy. The project is for two years with Starting date Sept 1st 2017, or as agreed upon.

Project: Molecular Dynamics Simulations of molecular interactions during drug solubilization in intestinal fluids

The Department of Pharmacy offers a stimulating multidisciplinary working environment in research and teaching within the Pharmacy disciplines. The Department centers its research on Drug Delivery, Rational Drug Usage and Pharmaceutical Materials Science. The research is developed by a series of research groups, several of international prominence. The research groups represent a unique cluster of academic competences in Sweden and the Department of Pharmacy has thus a key role in the development of the pharmacy discipline in Sweden. Information about the department and the research groups can be found at www.farmfak.uu.se/farm/.

The post doc position is linked to the research group Drug Delivery. The group takes a multidisciplinary approach and combines computational chemistry and bioinformatics with cell- and molecular biology, biopharmaceutics, pharmaceutics and physical chemistry to find new ways to predict oral drug absorption, to define rate-limiting barriers to the absorption and organ distribution of different types of drugs. We anticipate that our research will provide insights into new mechanisms for drug absorption, disposition and delivery, which will support development of new therapeutic strategies for efficient oral drug delivery.

The primary focus of the post doctoral project is to develop the Molecular Dynamics simulation (MDS) methodology to study solubilization, supersaturation and possible precipitation of drugs in intestinal fluids. Structurally diverse drug molecules will be simulated in MDS boxes including micelle structures and discrete water molecules at concentrations relevant in gastrointestinal fluids of different regions (stomach, duodenum, proximal and distal jejunum etc) and the results will be linked to experimentally measured drug solubility in fasted state simulated and/or human intestinal fluids. Results from the simulations may be combined with experimental techniques such as dynamic light scattering or small angel x-ray scattering experiments to follow colloidal phase changes (size and morphology) of aggregates in biorelevant dissolution media solubilizing lipophilic compounds. When successful, this methodology will be extended to colloidal systems reflecting intestinal fluid after ingestion of food and/or drug formulations. The project is carried out in the frame work of the ERC project INTESTINANOS.

Admission requirements: To be eligible for a postdoctoral employment, the candidate must hold a PhD degree not older than three years at the closing day of the application. Evaluation criteria: Extra attention will be paid to scientific skills and e.g. PhD in computational chemistry or theoretical physics is a suitable background for the project. Qualifications in method development of MD simulation protocols are highly rated and, in particular, a deep theoretical understanding of MD simulation concepts is required. Further, the post doc is expected to successfully perform high quality research, publish the results, develop new methodologies and independently perform the tasks included in the project. He/she is also expected to actively contribute to other projects performed within the group.

The application should contain a letter in which the applicant describes her/himself, her/his qualifications, research interests and plans for the future. It must contain a CV including at least two references, copies of relevant grades, and a list of previous research publications of relevance, including the applicant's doctoral thesis. Periods of leave, such as parental leave, that may be taken into account should be stated in the presentation of personal experience and qualifications. Salary will be set after competence and we would like the applicant to provide an expected salary in the application.

Project leader: Assoc Prof Christel Bergström, Dept of Pharmacy, Uppsala University. christel.bergstrom@farmaci.uu.se

You are welcome to submit your application no later than 2017-10-31, UFV-PA 2017/2417.