Research Fellow (DMSWH)
SingHealth Duke-NUS Institute of Biodiversity Medicine (BD-MED) is a newly established Joint Research Institute under the SingHealth and Duke-NUS Academic Medicine partnership. BD-MED will focus on the science of plant genomics and biology in regional herbs and food plants with the mission of “translating biodiversity studies to impact medicine and health”. We are looking for a plant biochemist to empower our team towards becoming a global leader in translational biodiversity medicine.
Your responsibilities will include:
- Identify novel molecular pathways and phytochemicals that can developed into new drugs, alternative treatment options or nutritional supplements
- Utilise plant metabolic engineering to enhance nutritional values in plant-based food
- Synergise and execute cellular, genetics, biochemical and drug screening assays in natural plants for validation of targets in vitro & in vivo
- Extraction of plant volatiles and non-volatiles using different strategies (steam distillation, maceration, solvent based extraction, etc)
- Isolation of target phytochemicals from plant extracts using various chromatography procedures (column, preparative HPLC, and Centrifugal Partition Chromatography).
- Chemical profiling via different instrumentation (LCMS, GCMS, LC-UV, NMR etc)
- General laboratory housekeeping and administrative support
- Participate actively in scientific discussions, present research outcomes and organise outreach programmes in a manner appropriate for the scientific community and the general public
- Mentor junior researchers
- Assist in grant proposal writing and applications
- Synergise with scientists and bioinformaticians to deliver on quality research findings and collaborative projects
Requirements:
- PhD in Biological Sciences, Chemistry Science or related fields
- Familiarity with HPLC, LC/MS/MS (QTOF), GC-MS instrumentation, data acquisition and interpretation
- At least 2-3 years of working experience in compound isolation from natural sources
- Some working knowledge in plant genetics and molecular biology, including but not limited to DNA, RNA and protein extraction, investigate DNA, gene and protein expression (e.g. genotyping, qPCR, Immunoblot), molecular cloning and plant transgenics transformation via techniques such as CRIPSR gene editing and agrobacterium-mediated plant transformation will be advantageous.
- Interest in plant biodiversity and willingness to work with non-model plant systems
- Resourceful and able to work with minimal supervision, independently and in a team
- Adaptability to take on innovative, required/necessary tasks beyond job scope