MSD Associate Principal Scientist Director 

United Kingdom, England, London 

889450204

Job Description

We are seeking a highly motivatedto be based in Kings Cross, London.

Role overview:

In this newly established role, you will report to the Head of Translational Biomarkers, Neuroscience Discovery and will join a team of Global experts leading Biomarker research projects to translate drug discovery programmes into the clinic. You will contribute to the development of novel therapies to treat neurodegenerative diseases by integrating, analysing and interpreting data sets from clinical and preclinical studies to identify novel biomarkers for drug discovery projects. You will combine your understanding of disease biology with computational biology methods for the discovery of novel pharmacodynamic and predictive biomarkers for innovative drug targets.

What you will do:

• Participate in cross-functional drug discovery teams and take the lead on in-silico identification of biomarkers for emerging drug discovery programmes, working in close collaboration with wet lab scientists, quantitative scientists, data scientists and AI/ML experts.
• Apply your knowledge of biological mechanisms and use computational biology methods for analysis of clinical data and muti-omic data from preclinical models and human studies to establish biomarkers of target modulation, disease heterogeneity and progression, and treatment response.
• Define and follow best practices for curating, standardising, and integrating diverse clinical and biological data sets from a variety of external and internal sources in a format suitable for bioinformatic analysis. Participate in the development and management of biomarker databases.
• Lead collaborations with internal research teams, CROs, academic collaborators, disease consortia and biobanks.
• Give presentations at internal meetings and externally at conferences.
• Contribute to internal scientific reports as required and publish science in high quality journals.

Qualifications:

• PhD or Master’s degree in biological sciences with significant experience applying computational methods to analyse and interpret large, complex data types for drug target or biomarker discovery within in a biotech, pharmaceutical or academic setting.

Required Experience:

• A deep knowledge of biological mechanisms and application of bioinformatics within projects in a biomedical research environment.
• Previous experience assisting in the design of projects aiming to discover novel drug targets or biomarkers through mining of diverse clinical and non-clinical data sets such as biofluid measurements, imaging, transcriptomics, proteomics, etc.
• Experience of curating, standardizing (covering QC) and integrating diverse clinical and biological data sets from a variety of external and internal sources in a format suitable for analysis.
• Experience with development and application of methods to analyse and interpret large, complex data types (genomics, transcriptomics, single cell sequencing, proteomics, and metabolomics) for disease target or biomarker discovery.
• Experience of working collaboratively with data scientists and disease area biology experts.

Desired Experience:

• Background in neuroscience therapy areas such as neurodegenerative diseases, psychiatric disorders and/or pain disorders.
• Experience in translational biomarker projects within a drug discovery/development environment (eg pharmaceutical/biotech or academic setting)
• Fluent in common scripting and/or programming language (e.g., R, Python).
• Familiarity with public domain data sources.
• Experience working with external academic, biotechnology, and contract research organizations

Skills/Competencies:

• Self-motivated and resourceful with a demonstrated ability to generate robust data outputs in a timely manner
• Impacts programs through critical thinking and timely data-driven decision making.
• Well-developed oral and written communication skills, with an ability to communicate scientific and technical information effectively to non-experts in bioinformatics.
• Works effectively across functional areas and has a keen ability to engage internal and external team members in collaborative research.
• Demonstrates an enthusiasm for learning and applying new data science methods and workflows, working in close collaboration with AI/ML experts.
• Contributing to the research community through publication and conference presentation
• Passion for innovation and problem-solving.

Closing date for applications:12th August 2024

Current Contingent Workers apply

Not Applicable

Bioinformatic Analysis, Bioinformatics Tools, Biological Data Analysis, Biomarker Development, Biomarker Discovery, Biotechnology, Data-Driven Decision Making, Data Science, Data Visualization, Human Studies, Preclinical Models, Stakeholder Relationship Management

Artificial Intelligence (AI), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Behavioral Sciences, Bioinformatics, Biological Sciences, Biology, Biomedical Research, Communication, Competency Mapping, Computational Biology, Critical Thinking, Data Mining, Decision Making, Drug Discovery Process, Genomics, Group Problem Solving, Human Ecology, Innovation, Machine Learning, Metabolomics, Molecular Biology, Molecular Biophysics, Molecular Microbiology, Neurology, Neuroscience {+ 13 more}

*A job posting is effective until 11:59:59PM on the dayBEFOREthe listed job posting end date. Please ensure you apply to a job posting no later than the dayBEFOREthe job posting end date.

A job posting is effective until 11:59:59PM on the day BEFORE the listed job posting end date. Please ensure you apply to a job posting no later than the day BEFORE the job posting end date.