Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Spatial Transcriptomics

Job Description

New hires working in our US & Puerto Rico locations will be required to demonstrate that they have been fully vaccinated for COVID-19 or qualify for a medical or religious exemption or accommodation to this vaccination requirement, subject to applicable law.

Be a part of the legacy: Postdoctoral Research Fellow Program

Our Research Laboratories’ Postdoctoral Research Fellow Program aims to be a best-in-industry program for industrial postdoctoral researchers, designed to provide you with an academic focus in a commercial environment. With the resources, reach, and expertise of a large pharmaceutical company, postdoctoral researchers will be positioned to excel in an institution committed to breakthrough innovation in research and discovery.

Position overview:

We are seeking a postdoctoral fellow who is passionate about spatial transcriptomics and willing to be involved in both data generation and data analysis, to join our innovative group within the Genome and Biomarker Sciences (GBx) at our Company's Research Laboratories in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Our mission is to develop high-throughput cutting-edge technologies to better understand disease mechanisms and to identify and validate new targets and biomarkers. Our group utilizes innovative multi-omics single cell approaches such as simultaneous RNA and protein profiling (i.e., REAP-seq), immune repertoire profiling, CROP-seq/Perturb-Seq, and Spatial Transcriptomics to impact all stages of the drug development pipeline from pre-clinical to clinical development. We collaborate closely with various discovery therapeutic areas (i.e., oncology, immunology, neuroscience, and cardiometabolic disease), pharmacology, and ChemBio groups to utilize these technologies to pursue key biological questions.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Design, prepare and execute experiments utilizing multiple spatial transcriptomics platforms

• Handle fresh frozen and FFPE tissue specimens, including sectioning, staining, and imaging

• Troubleshoot and optimize tissue processing and Next Generation Sequencing workflows to ensure high level of quality and reliability of generated results

• Perform analysis of digital pathology and spatial transcriptomics data

• Implement and optimize new computational methods and pipeline if needed

• Clear written and verbal communication of results and findings to project teams, stakeholders, and external scientific community

Education Minimum Requirement:

• Ph.D. degree (in biological sciences or related fields) or plans to graduate with a PhD by Fall 2022

• Laboratory research experience and/or computational experience in academic or industrial setting

Required Experience and Skills:

• Hands-on experience in molecular biology assays, especially Next Generation Sequencing and/or other high throughput genomic technologies

• Experience with analysis of RNA-seq data, including bulk RNA-seq, single cell RNA-seq or spatial transcriptomics

• Experience using Linux/Unix OS and high-performance compute (HPC) environments. Familiarity with coding in R or Python

• Keen understanding of experimental design, underlying scientific principles, and the ability to rigorously analyze and document results

• Strong interpersonal skills, including an ability to work effectively in a collaborative environment

• Strong organizational skills, including an ability to effectively communicate experimental design, results, and conclusions to internal and external communities, and to maintain detailed written records

Preferred Experience and Skills

• Experience in cutting edge transcriptomic technologies especially spatial transcriptomics

• Experience in tissue imaging and analysis

• Familiarity with immunohistochemistry/in situ hybridization or other related histological techniques

• Experience of analyzing single cell sequencing or spatial transcriptomic data sets

• We do not expect you to have both experimental and computational skills. The ideal candidate would be the one with motivation and strong ability to quickly learn new skills on the job

We are a research-driven biopharmaceutical company. Our mission is built on the simple premise that if we “follow the science” that great medicines can make a significant impact to our world. We believe that a research-driven enterprise dedicated to world-class science can succeed by inventing medicine and vaccine innovations that make a difference for patients across the globe.

MRLpostdoc

Who we are …

We are known as Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey, USA in the United States and Canada and MSD everywhere else. For more than a century, we have been inventing for life, bringing forward medicines and vaccines for many of the world's most challenging diseases. Today, our company continues to be at the forefront of research to deliver innovative health solutions and advance the prevention and treatment of diseases that threaten people and animals around the world.

What we look for …

Imagine getting up in the morning for a job as important as helping to save and improve lives around the world. Here, you have that opportunity. You can put your empathy, creativity, digital mastery, or scientific genius to work in collaboration with a diverse group of colleagues who pursue and bring hope to countless people who are battling some of the most challenging diseases of our time. Our team is constantly evolving, so if you are among the intellectually curious, join us—and start making your impact today.

NOTICE FOR INTERNAL APPLICANTS

In accordance with Managers' Policy - Job Posting and Employee Placement, all employees subject to this policy are required to have a minimum of twelve (12) months of service in current position prior to applying for open positions.

If you have been offered a separation benefits package, but have not yet reached your separation date and are offered a position within the salary and geographical parameters as set forth in the Summary Plan Description (SPD) of your separation package, then you are no longer eligible for your separation benefits package. To discuss in more detail, please contact your HRBP or Talent Acquisition Advisor.

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Requisition ID:R155331