Location: Cambridge, MA;

About Merck:

We aspire to be the premier research-intensive biopharmaceutical company. We’re at the forefront of research to deliver innovative health solutions that advance the prevention and treatment of diseases in people and animals. 

Start Date: 5/5/25

Project Title – Testing and optimizing Optical pooled screening technology for high-throughput genomic screens   

Project Description:  

• Evaluation of leading edge cellular and genomics technologies including single cell CRISPR-sequencing, high-plex, high-throughput proteomics and spatial transcriptomics. 

• Application of cellular and genomic technologies towards the functional validation of targets and pathways.   

• Analysis of sequencing datasets (e.g. Spatial Transcriptomics) with state-of-the-art methods to better understand disease biology and support target candidate evaluation.  

• Analysis of high content imaging datasets from in vitro screening models and tissue samples (i.e., cell painting, multiplexed IF, Comet Lunaphore, Akoya Phenocycler)

Academic disciplines considered: Bioengineering, Biology, Biomedical Sciences, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Mathematics, Network Science

Knowledge, Skills, and Attributes Required: 

• Candidates must be available to engage full-time, @40 hours per week, May – October (6 months).   
• Candidates may have interests/experience in ANY of the fields of molecular biology, immunology, oncology, cell biology, neuroscience, or bioinformatics.   
• For these computational projects, specific skill sets include one or more of the following: experience with R or Python programming languages, analysis of bulk, single cell, spatial transcriptomics, and/or multiplex immunofluorescence datasets.  

Competencies Preferred / Required: 

• Candidates must have excellent academic achievement and analytical ability.  
• Candidates must have demonstrated superior communication and interpersonal skills and must be able to work well in a collaborative team environment.