Research Associate or Postdoctoral Fellow, Smart functional biomaterials

Description

The ADA Forsyth Institute was founded in 1910 as the Forsyth Dental Infirmary for Children (later, the Forsyth Institute), to provide dental care to the disadvantaged children of Boston. While continuing to serve children in need, yet recognizing the ultimate goal is to prevent dental disease, the Institute in 1915 began to focus on scientific research and is today the world’s leader in oral health research. In October of 2023, the Institute joined with the American Dental Association to form the ADA Forsyth Institute, a 501(c)(3) entity dedicated to improving people’s oral and overall health and powering the profession of dentistry through cutting-edge basic research, creative translational science, innovative clinical technologies, and global public health outreach. Consistent with the Institute’s founding mission, the ADA ForsythKids mobile dental program continues to serve children in need.

Summary/objective

The associate will work on 5-year projects that are supported by National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR/NIH). The project is to design, prepare and characterize functional materials for dental caries prevention and treatment. This project aims to develop a streamlined platform for the fast development of an innovative system of bioactive dental restoratives that is characterized by its self-healing and dynamic capabilities that may be tailored to individual patient needs. These functional materials are designed to provide stimuli-induced functionalities, including stimuli-responsive mineralization, drug delivery, pH-responsive protein adsorption, targeted treatment for acid-producing bacteria and self-cleaning surfaces. 

The Associate will work closely with a team of materials scientists, microbiologists, biologists, and dentists. The successful candidate will have opportunity to participate in the NIH training programs and become an independent researcher. We welcome self-motivated scientist to join an exciting and fast-paced team focused on improving human oral health worldwide through highly innovative functional and smart materials. For additional inquiries, please contact Dr. Jirun Sun, Associate Member, ADA Forsyth Institute: email: jsun@forsyth.org

Specific responsibilities: 

• Independently plan, design, optimize and execute experiments.
• Design, prepare, synthesize, and characterize nanoparticles and chemicals.
• Carry out surface functionalization and characterization of metal and metal oxide particles. 
• Perform experiments to improve performance and robustness.
• Analyze and interpret experimental data, as well as maintain accurate and detailed documentation of completed experiments. 
• Development, verification, validation and technology transfer of functional materials.

Basic qualifications:

• PhD or equivalent in chemistry, polymer science, materials science, chemical engineering, or related fields.
• Highly motivated and responsible
• Excellent analytical, problem solving, and experimental skills
• Good interpersonal and communication skills
• Willing to work in a collaborative environment
• Willing to learn new techniques and instrument.

Preferred qualifications:

• Surface functionalization and validation of metal and metal oxides. 
• Expertise in organic synthesis and characterization, polymer preparation and evaluation.
• Experience in calcium phosphate mineralization, protein adsorption and drug delivery
• Experience and knowledge in spectrometers, NMR, HPLC, GPC and quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). 
•  Forsyth values diversity among its faculty, is committed to building a culturally diverse intellectual community, and strongly encourages applications from women and minorities. Supporting the work-life balance of our employees is a priority.  

To Apply

Forsyth provides competitive salaries and a comprehensive benefits program. Qualified and interested applicants are encouraged to apply for immediate consideration.