Technologist I - machine learning-based protein design

at  SickKids

ABOUT SICKKIDS

Dedicated exclusively to children and their families, The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) is one of the largest and most respected paediatric healthcare centres in the world. As innovators in child health, we lead and partner to improve the health of children through the integration of healthcare, leading-edge research and education. Our reputation would not have been built – nor could it be maintained – without the skills, knowledge and experience of the extraordinary people who come to work here every day. SickKids is committed to ongoing learning and development, and features a caring and supportive work environment that combines exceptionally high standards of practice.
When you join SickKids, you become part of our community. We share a commitment and determination to fulfill our vision of Healthier Children. A Better World.
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to work alongside the world’s best in paediatric healthcare.

POSITION DESCRIPTION

We are seeking individuals who will develop, maintain, and apply pipelines for the machine learning-based design of synthetic proteins that interface with biological systems. The positions will be part-time (approximately 10-15 hours/week, depending on candidate availability), and work may be performed remotely.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Programming experience in languages including Python and R
• Experience working in a Linux-based environment
• Extensive practical knowledge of software tools for protein design
• Experience with tools for computational structural biology including PyMOL and the PDB
• Experience using high-performance computing infrastructure including the Digital Research Alliance of Canada
• Knowledge of the relevant primary literature in protein structure/design
• Ability to work responsively in a dynamic team environment
• Strong oral and written communications skills
• Demonstrated commitment to understanding and aiding in the pursuit of equity, diversity and inclusion objectives
  Employment Type: Part-time 1 year temporary contract

• Further develop an existing pipeline for the design of proteins on the SickKids high-performance computing cluster. Objectives include:
• Developing methods for making the pipeline more computationally efficient
• Further automating and optimizing certain steps in the pipeline, such as the selection of protein hotspots and the identification of appropriate fold conditioning scaffolds
• Making the pipeline more user-friendly
• Extend the pipeline to various protein classes
• Apply the pipeline to design agents against a wide variety of targets. Objectives include:
• Prioritizing targets based on their biological interest, predicted difficulty, and expected computational time
• Running the pipeline on those targets, monitoring the results closely to ensure optimal use of limited computational resources
• Interpreting results from the pipeline, including assisting in the ranking and selection of candidate designs for experimental validation