Biological Curator - Chemical Biology Resources

About the Team

The Chemical Biology Resources Team at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) is looking for a talented Scientist with a flair for data curation to be responsible for the quality of bioactivity and drug discovery data in the ChEMBL database. ChEMBL is a world-leading chemogenomics resource, providing open bioactivity data and associated tools to the scientific community. ChEMBL is widely used through both academia and industry to support drug discovery.

You will work in a team-oriented environment, collaborating closely with fellow scientists and technical experts, chemo- and bio-informaticians and software engineers across EMBL-EBI and with our many external partners from the UK and internationally.

In this role you will be responsible for the curation of biological data in the ChEMBL database. Reporting to the ChEMBL Team Coordinator, you will:

• work together with the other members of the ChEMBL data team to curate bioactivity data in the ChEMBL database ensuring the delivery of high quality data
• map measured bioactivity data from the scientific literature to other biological entities (proteins, cell-lines etc) using a variety of bioinformatics resources and ontologies
• work collaboratively with other EMBL-EBI teams to integrate ChEMBL data into their resources and vice versa
• proactively identify new data types and additional annotations that address the needs of the community
• identify and validate the potential therapeutic targets of drug molecules and compounds in clinical development from a variety of sources
• work with data depositors to help them format and curate their data to the standards required for deposition into ChEMBL
• manually check and annotate data by reference to the original data sources such as the scientific literature, Pharma Company pipelines and prescribing information
• develop semi-automated processes for identifying and correcting erroneous data
• be actively involved in training and external user support
• work with other team members to publish project outcomes in scientific articles in the peer-reviewed literature

You have excellent attention to details, strong communication skills and be able to interact with technical experts as well as scientists seeking solutions to their "real world" problems.

• A PhD (or equivalent) in a biological or biomedical science
• Excellent knowledge of pharmacology, potential biological targets and mechanisms of drug action
• Good knowledge of the various experimental techniques used to determine the activity of compounds in different in vitro and in vivo assay systems
• Ability to work accurately and quickly to deadlines
• Ability to work both as part of a team and independently
• Good communication skills (both verbal and presentational)
• Prior experience of biological data curation and knowledge of bioinformatics databases
• Some knowledge of biological ontologies
• Experience of working in a drug discovery environment
• Experience of working with and manipulating file formats such as FASTA, Excel, XML, OBO and familiarity with regular expressions and text matching
• Experience of querying relational databases using SQL would also be advantageous

• Open mindset – welcoming diverse ideas and perspectives.
• Professional outlook - ensuring meticulous attention to quality and detail.
• Teamwork – working together for shared success.
• Respect – treating all colleagues with professionalism and kindness
• Inclusivity – allowing everyone space to shine in their own way.

Contract length: 3 years, renewable to a maximum of 9 years

Salary:
Grade 5, salary from £3,452.02 after tax, plus generous financial benefits and allowances based on family circumstances. Excluding personal pension and insurance contributions.

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