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The research laboratory of protein engineering and synthetic biology led by Dr. Denard (THE DENARD LAB AT UF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING - Home) in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Florida invites applications for a fully funded post-doctoral position. The Denard lab focuses on developing high-throughput tools to evolve and reprogram enzymes that catalyze post-translational modifications (PTM-enzymes), including proteases, kinases, and others. The postdoctoral associate would be involved in several ongoing projects in the lab. One project is to discover modulatory proteins (antibodies, nanobodies, etc…) that can reprogram the activity of PTM-enzymes using a powerful high-throughput discovery platform. In this project, the postdoctoral associate will introduce deep learning to the project to establish sequence function relationships and predict modulator properties from sequence (funded by NIH MIRA) and expand the platform to other enzymes. Other projects in the lab include: 1) comprehensive profiling and engineering of sortase substrate specificity, 2) developing an aggregation sensor to study the sequence function relationship of a human protein aggregation disease, 3) engineering protein disaggregases, and 4) building a yeast model to study the mutational landscape of SRP54 and uncover how congenital mutations lead to human disorders (funded by Live Like Bella Foundation Grant) (UF researcher receives grant to study gene involved in pediatric cancers » Cancer Center » UF Health Cancer Center » University of Florida (ufl.edu)).  

The Denard lab: Our lab is funded by an NIH MIRA, a Live Like Bella Foundation Grant and the NSF CAREER award. The Denard is a young, vibrant, and inclusive research. In the Spring of 2022, we moved in brand new facilities. We are supported by state-of-the-art instruments, both in our lab and in core facilities. The postdoctoral associate will be involved in multiple projects, able to advance their career on multiple fronts.

University of Florida: Over the past 10 years, the State of Florida invested over 1.5 billion dollars to advance the University of Florida. UF research expenditures averaged over $950M per year over the last 3 years. As a result, UF is now the 5th ranked public university in America (US News & World Report). The Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, The SHANDS Hospital, and the College of Medicine, all in proximity, foster cross-college, highly interdisciplinary collaborations. The city of Gainesville is a university town with a relatively low cost of living, a high quality of life, and a location ~2 hours from 3 major cities (Orlando, Tampa and Jacksonville). University of Florida counts among its greatest strengths — and a major component of its excellence – that it values broad diversity in its faculty, students, and staff and creates a robust, inclusive and welcoming climate for learning, research and other work. The University of Florida is an Equal Opportunity Employer.