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R-194471: Postdoctoral Fellow - Profiling the tumor microenvironment using interpretable AI through single cell spatial transcriptomics data

Location: Waltham, MA or Gaithersburg, MD, USA

Competitive Salary, Bonus & Benefits Package

Are you a data scientist with a passion for impacting the lives of cancer patients? Do you aspire to work at the interface of pioneering analytical technology and paradigm-shifting cancer therapeutics? Then this is the role for you.

About AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca is a global, science-led, patient-centred biopharmaceutical company focusing on discovering, developing, and commercialising prescription medicines for some of the world’s most serious diseases. But we’re more than a global leading pharmaceutical company. At AstraZeneca, we're dedicated to being a Great Place to Work and empowering employees to push the boundaries of science and fuel their entrepreneurial spirit.

About our Postdoc Programme

Bring your expertise, apply your knowledge, follow the science, and make a difference. AstraZeneca’s Postdoc Programme is for self-motivated individuals looking to deliver exciting projects in an encouraging, engaging, and innovative environment. You'll work with multidisciplinary scientific teams from a diverse set of backgrounds and a world-class academic mentor specifically aligned to your project. Our postdocs are respected as specialists, encouraged to speak up, and supported to share their research at conferences, publish papers, achieve their goals.

Make a more meaningful impact in your career, with greater ownership and accountability to make a contribution whilst making a difference to the lives of our patients!

This is a 3-year programme.

About the Opportunity

In Oncology Data Science – Early Data Science, we are responsible for 1) Patient Selection 2) Treating disease earlier 3) Understanding Resistance. We deliver current & anticipate future biomarker needs. We store, process and exploit biomarker data from AZ trials and beyond.

The applied data science team (ADS) is actively researching pioneering technologies to better understand cancer. During this post-doc we will concentrate on two ground-breaking approaches: spatial single-cell transcriptomics and deep learning. Our main goal is to develop advanced algorithms to gain insights into cancer biology and identify potential biomarkers.

This postdoc position is an outstanding opportunity for a highly motivated data scientist to work at the forefront of data analytics and immuno-oncology, in collaboration with specialists and their field and a world-class academic mentor.

Project Focus

The primary purpose of this project is to integrate single cell spatial transcriptomic data with prior knowledge (e.g., signalling pathways) using interpretable deep neural networks to identify key interactions in the tumor microenvironment and their role in cancer and immunotherapy.

You will join the applied data science team in the early data science – Oncology Data Science function, reporting to Gustavo Alonso Arango Argoty (Associate Director leading deep learning efforts at ADS) at AstraZeneca and you'll also receive academic mentorship and guidance from Dr Carlos Talavera Lopez, Junior Professor at the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg & Max Planck Systems Immunology.

What You’ll Do

Our Postdoctoral Fellow will collaborate with a highly diverse and international team, learning from world leaders in oncology and machine learning and our expectation is that you will author at least 2+ high impact publications.

Key Duties & Responsibilities:

  • Design, implement and validate an interpretable deep learning foundation model that utilises self-supervised learning (architecture, custom loss function, training regimen) on all available single cell spatial transcriptomic data to model the dynamics of the tumor microenvironment in cancer
  • Use the information provided by the foundation model to link cell-cell interactions to cancer biology to discover key tumor microenvironment drivers of response/resistance
  • Close collaboration with academic supervisor

Qualification, Skills & Experience

Essential Requirements

  • A PhD or equivalent, in computer science or similar with experience in machine/deep learning and omics (0 years’ experience required)
  • Strong experience in deep learning, consistent track record with predictive and generative modelling
  • Deep understanding of multi-omic datasets, single cell and single cell spatial transcriptomics data
  • Experience with collaborative research

Our Postdoc programme is aimed at individuals with a strong publication record who are either:

  • Within 5-years of obtaining their doctoral degree (PhD, DVM, or MD) - PhD already awarded, or
  • Students, soon to obtain doctoral degrees (the PhD must be awarded within 6 months of joining AstraZeneca).

Desirable Requirements

  • Experience developing/implementing large language models
  • Good understanding of disease therapeutics, preferably in Oncology
  • Knowledge of immuno-oncology / immune biology
  • Experience with prior knowledge databases (e.g., pathways, gene signatures)

Reasons to Apply

This is a fantastic opportunity to work in an industry-leading group with a strong publication track record and be supported by a leading academic supervisor. You’ll work at the cutting-edge of innovation using Deep Learning and spatial single cell sequencing data delivering results that make a real difference to patients.

As a respected specialist, we will empower you to take appropriate risks, lead the project and “run with it”, along with providing you will all the support you need.

Why AstraZeneca

The unique positioning of this postdoc within a pharmaceutical company such as AZ, means that you will be able to access large datasets which are not available in the public domain. Moreover, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that methods and techniques you develop will not only be published but will also be used within AZ after the postdoc position concludes, in real-life projects - and that ultimately the work you do will directly impact patients’ lives!

As a key member of a research group and taking a leading role on a Postdoctoral project, we expect regular attendance - a minimum of 3 days per week on the AstraZeneca campus. For laboratory-based scientists, this may be higher.

Given the unique positioning of our Postdoctoral researchers, you may have an additional opportunity to spend some time with an external academic mentor. In this instance, you may be required to spend some of your time working alongside them at their facility as driven by the research project. Your flexibility to meet the needs of the research and the scope of the project is required, and we also look to support you with flexibility in accordance with our standard work policies.

Next Steps

If your passion is science and you want to be part of a team that makes a bigger impact on patients’ lives, then there’s no better place to be.

This advert will be running from Tuesday, 12th March 2024 and, we welcome your application as soon as possible, but ahead of the scheduled closing date of Monday, 8th January 2024. In the event, that we identify suitable candidates ahead of the scheduled closing date, we reserve the right to withdraw the vacancy earlier than published.

Find Out More

AstraZeneca – Immuno-oncology: https://www.astrazeneca.com/our-therapy-areas/oncology/immuno-oncology.html

AstraZeneca Oncology: https://www.astrazeneca.com/our-therapy-areas/oncology.html

Max Planck Research Group: Würzburg Institute for Systems Immunology 

AZ’s Postdoc Programme: https://careers.astrazeneca.com/postdocs-astrazeneca

Life at AstraZeneca: https://careers.astrazeneca.com/life-at-astrazeneca

This is what we’re made of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmFx_jr2eFo&t=2s

As AstraZeneca continues to put patients at the forefront of our mission, we are excited for our move to Kendall Square/Cambridge in 2026. Find out more information here: Kendall Square Press Release

AstraZeneca embraces diversity and equality of opportunity. We are committed to building an inclusive and diverse team representing all backgrounds, with as wide a range of perspectives as possible, and harnessing industry-leading skills. We believe that the more inclusive we are, the better our work will be. We welcome and consider applications to join our team from all qualified candidates, regardless of their characteristics. We follow all applicable laws and regulations on non-discrimination in employment (and recruitment), as well as work authorisation and employment eligibility verification requirements.

AstraZeneca requires all UA employees to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 but will consider requests for reasonable accommodations as required by applicable law.

Date Posted

12-Mar-2024

Closing Date

08-Apr-2024Our mission is to build an inclusive and equitable environment. We want people to feel they belong at AstraZeneca and Alexion, starting with our recruitment process. We welcome and consider applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of characteristics. We offer reasonable adjustments/accommodations to help all candidates to perform at their best. If you have a need for any adjustments/accommodations, please complete the section in the application form.

AstraZeneca requires all US employees to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 but will consider requests for reasonable accommodations as required by applicable law.

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Confirmed 12 hours ago. Posted 15 days ago.

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