Post-doctoral - Natural Products Chemistry (Taste Modulation)

Working Environment

The natural products chemistry laboratory in the Food Science and Human Nutrition Department at the Citrus Research and Education Center, University of Florida is currently accepting applications for a Postdoctoral Associate. The laboratory has strong expertise in the isolation and characterization of natural products and metabolomics. The goal of our laboratory is to better understand health and disease, as well as translate this knowledge into personalized science-based nutrition. We offer a truly innovative working environment. Our center is located off the main campus, in Central Florida, less than 1 hour from Orlando and Tampa.

Key responsibilities

The candidate will have access to analytical and preparative scale instrumentation, including different chromatography setups, such as Prep-HPLC-DAD/ELSD, LC-MS/MS, LC-TOF/MS and NMR. The candidate will be expected to develop new strategies for plant fractionation as well as for bioactive  compound identification purposes in particular identification of taste modulators such as bitter blockers and sweetness enhancers etc.. Optimization of extract preparation, extract and bioactive characterization will be necessary to achieve methodologies fitting identification and screening requirements. If necessary, easy synthesis is also expected. Additional responsibilities include researching, interpreting, and evaluating relevant literature; compiling and analysis of data; maintaining an accurate, up-to-date lab notebook to contribute to SOPs; preparing and editing manuscripts for publication, and collaborating with other lab staff and graduate students.

Education and Experience

The motivated candidates should hold a recent PhD in natural products chemistry, biochemistry, analytical chemistry, or organic chemistry. She/he should be keen on analytical development and demonstrate hands‐on experience with advanced instrumentation (liquid chromatography, hyphenated systems and NMR). Experience with the preparative‐scale systems, mass spectrometry and NMR is a must. Fluency in spoken and written English, and excellent communication skills are expected. The candidate should also enjoy collaborating with a group of researchers on the different aspects of the same basic research question. 

About the Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC), University of Florida

The CREC provides a unique off campus IFAS environment with over 200 employees, including more than 600 acres of groves, greenhouses, fresh fruit packinghouse, juice processing pilot plant, more than 40 research laboratories, teaching laboratory, an electron microscopy facility and the largest citrus library in the world.

The University of Florida is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected categories covered by the UF nondiscrimination policy.