Postdoctoral Position in Organic

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