A position has become available immediately (May 1999) for an applicant seeking an MSc degree in Chemistry. Two main projects are ongoing in my laboratory: (1) The synthesis of hydroxycinnamic acid conjugates of polyamines, some of which are found in plants, as potential agrichemicals and (2) synthesis of affinity labels - ligands of alpha-tocopherol (Vitamin E) and stereoselective tocopherol syntheses. Methods have been developed in our lab that make many of these compounds efficiently and quickly, but much remains to be done. We work closely with people who will screen all produced materials for biological activity, both outside and within Brock, so there is plenty of information flow within the project - from the bench, through assays and back again. This is an excellent project for anyone looking for a topic in bioorganic chemistry.
Applicants should have achieved demonstrable success in organic chemistry and synthesis at the undergraduate level. While experience in biochemistry is not an absolute requirement, a willingness to work at the interface between organic chemistry, medicinal and agricultural chemistry is a definite asset.
The candidate on this project will perform novel organic syntheses, design and interpret structure-activity series, and test mechanisms of action with strategically synthesized analogues. It is likely that the student would participate in toxicological studies of polyamine conjugates with insect larvae or various experiments with recombinant tocopherol binding proteins. This is a hybrid research environment that offers a student experience in topics and techniques that are uniquely portable to the pharmaceutical, biotechnological, and health science industries.
Brock University is located in St. Catharines, Ontario, in the Niagara Peninsula, one of the premier wine producing regions of Canada. We are 40 minutes from Buffalo (but not nearly as cold!) and one hour from Toronto. The Department of Chemistry is well equiped with a brand new 300 MHz Bruker DPX NMR, Kratos Mach 3 mass spectrometer, UV, IR and fluorescence spectrophotometers, several HPLCs, Silicon Graphics workstations and much more.
Intersted candidates should contact me at the address shown
below.