Postdoc: Organic & Medicinal Chemistry for β-Lactamase

Biopractify; Paris; Hybrid; EUR 38,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

Université Paris Cité, Centre de Paris, France, seeks a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Chemistry of RNAs, Nucleosides, Peptides and Heterocycles within LCBPT – UMR8601. The project focuses on developing β-lactamase inhibitors and β-lactam antibiotics to counter antimicrobial resistance, particularly KP C enzymes.

The role entails synthetic organic and medicinal chemistry, expanding chemical diversity, and collaboration across antimicrobial resistance, structural biology, and computational

Qualifications

• PhD or equivalent in chemistry or related field.
• Strong knowledge of organic chemistry and medicinal chemistry.
• Experience or strong interest in synthetic chemistry.
• Interest at the chemistry–biology interface.
• Motivation to work on antimicrobial resistance.
• Ability to work in an interdisciplinary research environment.

Responsibilities

• Develop synthetic strategies for β-lactamase inhibitors and β-lactams.
• Synthesize and optimize chemical entities.
• Expand chemical diversity and perform SAR analysis.
• Collaborate across antimicrobial resistance, structural biology, and computational modeling groups.
• Apply structure–activity relationships to guide compound development.

Skills

Organic chemistry

Medicinal chemistry

Synthetic chemistry

Interdisciplinary collaboration

Education

PhD in Chemistry or related field

Tools

X-ray crystallography

Computational modeling

Structure-based drug design

Job description

Research Team: Chemistry of RNAs, Nucleosides, Peptides and Heterocycles

🔬 Research Areas: Organic Chemistry | Medicinal Chemistry | β-Lactamase Inhibitors | Antibiotic Resistance | Chemical Biology | Drug Discovery | Synthetic Chemistry

The Laboratoire de Chimie et Biochimie Pharmacologiques et Toxicologiques (LCBPT), UMR8601 at Université Paris Cité is seeking a motivated Postdoctoral Researcher to work within the Chemistry of RNAs, Nucleosides, Peptides and Heterocycles team led by Laura Iannazzo.

The project focuses on developing new β-lactamase inhibitors and β-lactams to address antibiotic resistance, particularly resistance driven by Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC) enzymes.

🔬 What You’ll Work On

Antibiotic Resistance & β-Lactamase Research

The project addresses the growing public-health challenge of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), with a particular focus on bacterial resistance mechanisms involving β-lactamases.

The research will investigate strategies for developing chemical compounds capable of targeting β-lactamase-mediated antibiotic resistance.

A major focus will be on Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemases (KPCs), which are important β-lactamase enzymes associated with resistance to carbapenem antibiotics.

The selected postdoctoral researcher will contribute to the development of new chemical entities through synthetic organic and medicinal chemistry approaches.

Research activities will include:

• Development of synthetic strategies
• Synthesis of β-lactamase inhibitors
• Synthesis of β-lactam compounds
• Expansion of chemical diversity
• Structure-based compound development
• Chemical optimization of potential inhibitors
• Investigation of structure–activity relationships

The project aims to expand the chemical diversity of β-lactamase inhibitors and β-lactams with potential applications in combating antibiotic resistance.

🧬 KPC Mutational Landscape & Resistance Mechanisms

The research will be conducted in collaboration with a broader consortium bringing together expertise in antimicrobial resistance, structural biology, and computational approaches.

The project will investigate the mutational landscape of KPC enzymes to better understand how evolutionary changes influence enzyme activity and resistance.

Research will integrate:

• KPC enzyme mutational analysis
• Evolutionary constraints
• Structure–activity relationships
• Protein–ligand interactions

This integrated approach will support the identification of β-lactamase inhibitors and β-lactams that can exploit evolutionary constraints of the enzyme and potentially limit the emergence of resistance.

The project is part of a multidisciplinary consortium involving expertise in:

• Antimicrobial resistance
• Organic chemistry
• Medicinal chemistry
• X-ray structural analysis
• Computational modeling
• Chemical biology

The selected researcher will work within an interdisciplinary research environment connecting chemistry and biology.

Applicants should have:

• Strong knowledge of organic chemistry.
• Strong knowledge of medicinal chemistry.
• Experience or strong interest in synthetic chemistry.
• An interest in the interface between chemistry and biology.
• Motivation to work on problems related to antimicrobial resistance.
• Ability to work in an interdisciplinary research environment.

Candidates interested in applying chemical approaches to biologically relevant problems are particularly suited to the project.

⭐ Desirable Research Background

Experience or knowledge in one or more of the following areas would be relevant:

• Organic synthesis
• Medicinal chemistry
• Synthetic methodology
• Antibiotic resistance
• Chemical biology
• Structure–activity relationship studies
• Protein–ligand interactions
• Computational chemistry
• Structural biology

🌟 What You’ll Gain

• Experience in organic and medicinal chemistry research.
• Research experience addressing antibiotic resistance.
• Experience developing new β-lactam-related chemical entities.
• Exposure to interdisciplinary chemistry–biology research.
• Collaboration with researchers working in antimicrobial resistance.
• Opportunities to work alongside structural and computational research approaches.
• Experience investigating enzyme evolution and resistance mechanisms.
• Development of advanced synthetic chemistry skills.

Position: Postdoctoral Researcher

Research Unit: UMR8601

Research Team: Chemistry of RNAs, Nucleosides, Peptides and Heterocycles

Location: Center of Paris, France 🇫🇷

Contract Duration: 12 Months

Expected Start: Between January and March 2027

Research Area: Organic & Medicinal Chemistry

The project focuses on developing chemical strategies to address bacterial antibiotic resistance, particularly resistance associated with β-lactamase enzymes.

The research will focus on:

• Antibiotic resistance
• Synthetic organic chemistry
• Medicinal chemistry
• Chemical diversity
• Mutational landscapes
• Enzyme evolutionary constraints
• Chemistry–biology interface

The project aims to identify compounds that can target β-lactamase activity while taking into account the evolutionary constraints governing enzyme resistance.

The position is based at Université Paris Cité, within the LCBPT (UMR8601) in central Paris.

The researcher will join the Chemistry of RNAs, Nucleosides, Peptides and Heterocycles team and participate in a multidisciplinary consortium combining:

• Organic chemistry
• Medicinal chemistry
• Antimicrobial resistance research
• Computational modeling
• Chemical biology

This environment provides an opportunity to work at the intersection of synthetic chemistry, molecular biology, and antimicrobial drug discovery.

Applicants should highlight their relevant background in organic and medicinal chemistry, synthetic research experience, and interest in chemistry–biology research.

Laboratory: LCBPT – UMR8601

Research Team: Chemistry of RNAs, Nucleosides, Peptides and Heterocycles

Position: Postdoctoral Researcher

Research Area: Organic & Medicinal Chemistry

Key Research Areas: Synthetic Chemistry | Medicinal Chemistry | Chemical Biology | Antimicrobial Resistance

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