Associate Director, Data Science, Neurodegenerative Causal Biology

Merck • Cambridge, MA

2d • Hybrid

About The Position

Our Company’s Data, AI & Genome Sciences Department in Cambridge, MA is seeking an Associate Director, Data Science - Neurodegenerative Causal Biology, within the Translational Neuroscience Analytics team to drive data analysis delineating causal biology across CNS cell types as a part of our ongoing efforts of precision biomarker discovery in neurodegenerative diseases. The qualified individual will be a motivated data scientist or computational biologist with a track record of extracting predictive and actionable insights from multi-modal datasets, especially single-nucleus and spatial transcriptomics data in neurodegenerative diseases. In this role, they will develop and deploy analytic pipelines to integrate single-nucleus and spatial transcriptomics datasets from large patient cohorts and preclinical studies to establish causal models that link neurodegenerative disease pathology and target pathway biology across different CNS cell types and perform in silico perturbation simulations to predict therapeutic responses and identify novel biomarkers for specific therapeutics development programs. They will work alongside with other data scientists and AI/ML scientists in the department to develop and apply innovative approaches to perform such analysis and further integration with clinical, genetic, and other omics data types. They will also be closely collaborating with cross-functional teams of data scientists, bench biologists, and clinical colleagues to drive our neuroscience biomarker and translational strategies.

Requirements

• PhD in Data Science, Computational Biology, Computer Science, Neuroscience, Bioinformatics, Biostatistics, Biophysics, Genomics, or a related STEM discipline, with a minimum of 5 years of experience in multimodal data analytics.
• Deep understanding of computational methodologies for single-cell and/or spatial transcriptomics analysis and extensive experience in their applications, preferably in neurological disorders.
• Experiences in leveraging advanced AI/ML models (e.g., transformers, foundation models), causal gene regulatory network reconstruction, and in silico perturbation simulation for single-cell data analysis.
• Ability to critically evaluate and apply novel data analysis methods in translational applications.
• Experience of integrative omics data analysis utilizing large public datasets from neurodegenerative disease patient cohorts (e.g, ROSMAP, SEA-AD).
• Familiarity with neurobiology, particularly neurodegenerative diseases.
• Proficient in one or more programming languages (e.g., Python, R), HPC environments and/or cloud-based platforms, as well as version control systems (e.g., Github).
• Strong problem-solving skills, self-motivated, attention to detail, and ability to handle multiple projects.
• Extensive experience to conduct research in a collaborative environment and excellent ability to communicate scientific questions, methodologies, findings and insights.
• Track record of contributions to peer-reviewed publications in the field of data science or computational biology.

Nice To Haves

• Outstanding scientific caliber with strong capabilities to identify key analytic questions and formulate rigorous data analytic plans to address critical scientific needs of drug discovery programs.
• Familiarity with spatial transcriptomics data generated with CosMx.

Responsibilities

• Lead data analytic projects to drive precision biomarker discovery, inform translational strategies, and enable data-driven decision-making of multiple Neuroscience drug discovery programs.
• Build and deploy analytic workflows leveraging state-of-art statistical and AI/ML methods to analyze single-cell and spatial multi-omics datasets, with a specific focus on target MOA and biomarker discovery in neurodegenerative diseases.
• Formulate and drive integration of spatial and single cell data to build unified predictive framework incorporating causal inference captured in different CNS cell types (e.g., neurons and microglia).
• Collaborate with internal AI/ML teams to develop and incorporate new methodologies into existing frameworks to enhance data analysis capabilities.
• Work with experimental biologists, functional area experts, and clinical scientists to support drug discovery and development programs at various stages.
• Provide data science / computational biology input in research strategy, experimental design, provide data analytical input, and assist in interpreting results from both in-vitro and in-vivo studies.
• Communicate data analytic results effectively to project teams, key stakeholders, as well as the broader scientific community through written and verbal means, including proposals for further experiments, presentations at internal and external meetings, and publications in leading journals.

Benefits

• The successful candidate will be eligible for annual bonus and long-term incentive, if applicable.
• We offer a comprehensive package of benefits. Available benefits include medical, dental, vision healthcare and other insurance benefits (for employee and family), retirement benefits, including 401(k), paid holidays, vacation, and compassionate and sick days.
• More information about benefits is available at https://jobs.merck.com/us/en/compensation-and-benefits.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree