Postdoctoral Fellow, Computational Genomics

Company Description

AbbVie's mission is to discover and deliver innovative medicines and solutions that solve serious health issues today and address the medical challenges of tomorrow. We strive to have a remarkable impact on people's lives across several key therapeutic areas – immunology, oncology, neuroscience, and eye care – and products and services in our Allergan Aesthetics portfolio. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at www.abbvie.com. Follow @abbvie on X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Tik Tok.

Job Description

Program Overview

AbbVie needs outstanding individuals willing to challenge themselves to find the best solutions for our patients. The AbbVie Postdoctoral Program is one way we are doing just that. AbbVie Postdoctoral Fellows serve as technical experts who investigate, develop, and optimize new methods and techniques to address critical project or functional area needs. Participants will improve existing or develop new laboratory methods and processes, read and adapt literature to accomplish assignments, and should have mastery of a range of experimental techniques and data analysis specific to their area of expertise.

The Postdoctoral Program supports investigational and experimental research where publication is an important component. Participants will be mentored by renowned industry scientists and collaborators at AbbVie and focus on delivering cutting-edge advancements in Discovery, Development Sciences, and Aesthetics which includes fields such as chemistry, biology, pharmaceutical science, and computational information sciences. This enriching training program offers a balance of supervised investigation and work experience in a learning environment that will expose the participant to activities across the drug development process.

We are seeking scientists from U.S.-based academic institutions who can be matched to projects within their area of scientific expertise for this unique 2-3-year assignment. Applicants who are awarded a postdoctoral position will have the opportunity to build a solid career foundation in the pharmaceutical industry while contributing to advancing human health through AbbVie’s industry-leading biopharmaceutical pipeline.

Role Overview

The postdoctoral fellow will be part of the Quantitative Medicine and Genomics (QM&G) organization at AbbVie. This recently formed function includes the Genomics Research Center (GRC), Convergence, and the Quantitative Insights Lab (QIL). QM&G works in partnership with Therapeutic Areas (TAs) and functions across the company to promote data-driven innovation in drug discovery by integrating diverse quantitative data, leveraging advanced computational models, and applying state-of-the-art genomic technologies.

The postdoc will develop new computational approaches to further our mission to identify drug targets with the highest probability of success for treating diseases, specifically focusing on identifying disease mechanisms supported by multiple, independent genetic variants. The postdoc will develop and evaluate machine learning approaches for predicting clinically successful drug targets. For this work, the postdoc will have access to a large high-performance compute cluster and to AbbVie's cutting-edge, harmonized data resources on genetics, clinical trial outcomes and other data types relevant to drug discovery. Research results are expected to be published in high quality, peer-reviewed scientific journals. 

Key Responsibilities

• Develop new computational approaches to generate insights into disease biology from large datasets
• Develop strategies to benchmark computational methods against clinically successful drugs
• Identify predictive factors of drug success among diverse genetic and functional evidence layers
• Generate, maintain and document corresponding project code repositories
• Generate new research strategies to effectively address the needs of the postdoc project
• Collaborate with functional and technical experts to facilitate scientific achievement
• Effectively write and communicate research methods and results
• Resolve research hurdles by effectively utilizing available information and technical expertise
• Proactively seek out new information in the literature and incorporate this into individual project(s) as well as the overall program
• Publish research in peer-reviewed journals and present work at scientific conferences aligned with business objectives
• Demonstrate a high degree of responsibility in maintaining scientific standards

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications

• PhD in Computational Genetics, Bioinformatics, Biostatistics, Statistics, or closely related field (summer and fall graduates are also encouraged to apply)
• A high degree of statistical and mathematical competency with experience applying these skills to problems in genomics, pharmacology, or other relevant areas
• Extensive experience in programming and data analysis, including fluency in R and/or Python
• Experience in managing code repositories
• Record of scientific initiative and creativity in research or development activities
• Capable of independently formulating and executing research strategies, analyzing and interpreting data, and identifying appropriate follow-up strategies
• Excellent project management skills. Ability to work within timelines
• Ability to resolve key project hurdles and assumptions by effectively utilizing available information and technical expertise
• Demonstrated scientific writing skills and strong verbal communication skills
• Global mindset to thrive in a diverse culture and environment

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with genome-wide association studies and/or molecular QTL analysis
• Experience with database queries and technologies for handling large datasets (e.g. SQL, Neo4J, spark, hadoop)
• Strong track record of scientific achievement, including publications

Key Leadership Competencies

• Builds strong relationships with peers and cross functionally with partners outside of team to enable higher performance
• Learns fast, grasps the "essence" and can change course quickly where indicated
• Raises the bar and is never satisfied with the status quo
• Creates a learning environment; open to suggestions and experimentation for improvement
• Embraces the ideas of others, nurtures innovation, and manages to reality

Candidates progressing to the final round of the interview process will be asked to provide three letters of recommendation (including one from the Thesis Advisor) and a letter of intent to pursue the postdoctoral position.

Additional Information

Applicable only to applicants applying to a position in any location with pay disclosure requirements under state or local law: ​​

• The compensation range described below is the range of possible base pay compensation that the Company believes in good faith it will pay for this role at the time of this posting based on the job grade for this position. Individual compensation paid within this range will depend on many factors including geographic location, and we may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range. This range may be modified in the future.​​

• We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including paid time off (vacation, holidays, sick), medical/dental/vision insurance and 401(k) to eligible employees.​​

• This job is eligible to participate in our short-term incentive programs. ​​

Note: No amount of pay is considered to be wages or compensation until such amount is earned, vested, and determinable. The amount and availability of any bonus, commission, incentive, benefits, or any other form of compensation and benefits that are allocable to a particular employee remains in the Company's sole and absolute discretion unless and until paid and may be modified at the Company’s sole and absolute discretion, consistent with applicable law. 

AbbVie is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to operating with integrity, driving innovation, transforming lives and serving our community.  Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled. 

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