Research Scientist (Computational Biology), London

Isomorphic Labs is a new Alphabet company that is reimagining drug discovery through a computational- and AI-first approach.

We are on a mission to accelerate the speed, increase the efficacy and lower the cost of drug discovery. You'll be working at the cutting edge of the new era of 'digital biology' to deliver a transformative social impact for the benefit of millions of people.

Come and be part of a multi-disciplinary team driving groundbreaking innovation and play a meaningful role in contributing towards us achieving our ambitious goals, while being a part of an inspiring, collaborative and entrepreneurial culture.

Your impact

This is an exciting opportunity for you to contribute to an ambitious Computational Biology research programme, working in partnership with leading ML researchers, Chemists and Biological Scientists. Building on the successful models in place to predict protein structure (AlphaFold-latest), there is an unique opportunity for an applied Research Scientist to have a direct impact on drug discovery, using innovative Computational Biology approaches. This is a newly created role; driven by a passion for problem solving, you will need to use your previous experience and show initiative in order to fully carve out your contribution.

What you will do

• Partner with Isomorphic Labs Drug Discovery teams and wider organisation, to use pioneering Computational Biology methods to drive data enabled drug development
• Develop and apply Computational Biology workflows to address common drug development research questions, spanning from target identification to clinical biomarker strategies
• Use your shown experience of computational biology datasets, spanning statistical genetics, genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, functional perturbation screens, imaging, knowledge graphs, PPI, clinical and other data types, to devise relevant computational experiments
• Use data to drive biological insights and contribute to drug discovery programmes, becoming an integral member of project teams
• Work in partnership with the Computational Biology research team members to evaluate experimental models under development and benchmark to existing methodologies
• Work with Bioinformatics, Data and other groups to influence Iso’s datasets and pipelines strategy, ensuring innovative insights are consistently brought to bear within drug development programmes
• Perform thorough data analysis and data quality assurance checks, with a strong focus on accuracy and reproducibility, inline with industry standard processes.
• Contribute to the wider development of Iso’s ML computational platform, working with other engineers to architect, build and operate the platform’s components
• Work with other members of the Computational Biology team to deliver a unified team strategy
• Provide documentation, guidance and communication on computational biology to the wider organisation.

Skills and qualifications

Essential:

• Experience in computational biology, with PhD and/or extensive experience
• Expertise with detailed data quality control procedures and data visualisation
• Solid experience with experimental design and statistical analysis
• Solid understanding of computational biology tools and methodologies and experience with the analysis of large -omics datasets
• Demonstrated understanding of the principles of molecular cell biology and genetics, or related biological disciplines
• Familiarity with data processing pipelines and tools
• Track record of using computational methods to gain novel biological insight
• Ability to effectively communicate scientific concepts to a variety of audiences
• Programming skills in a language such as Python (ideally), or R
• Experience using common database platforms (e.g. BigQuery), and data integration approaches
• Some exposure to cloud environments
• Demonstrate ongoing career progression / trajectory and a passion for learning

Nice to have:

• Post PhD research experience (i.e. some postdoctoral or industry experience)
• Prior experience in the context of therapeutic or diagnostic development programmes
• Familiarity with a variety of assaying techniques, including NGS, cell-based assays, functional genomics, single-cell techniques, and image-based assays with expertise in their respective data analysis approaches
• Experience working with clinical data
• Expertise in applying computational biology methods to the process of drug discovery, such as methods used for disease modelling and target discovery, combination strategies, as well as biomarker development.
• Experience applying computational biology workflows on GCP
• Strong experience in Python
• Hands-on experience in applying ML (especially deep learning) models in the field of computational biology.

Culture and values

What does it take to be successful at IsoLabs? It's not about finding people who think and act in the same way, but we do have some shared values:

Thoughtful
Thoughtful at Iso is about curiosity, creativity and care. It is about good people doing good, rigorous and future-making science every single day.

Brave
Brave at Iso is about fearlessness, but it’s also about initiative and integrity. The scale of the challenge demands nothing less.

Determined
Determined at Iso is the way we pursue our goal. It’s a confidence in our hypothesis, as well as the urgency and agility needed to deliver on it. Because disease won’t wait, so neither should we.

In this together
Together at Iso is about connection, collaboration across fields and catalytic relationships. It’s knowing that transformation is a group project, and remembering that what we’re doing will have a real impact on real people everywhere.

Creating an inclusive company

We realise that to be successful we need our teams to reflect and represent the populations we are striving to serve. We’re working to build a supportive and inclusive environment where collaboration is encouraged and learning is shared. We value diversity of experience, knowledge, backgrounds and perspectives and harness these qualities to create extraordinary impact. 

We are committed to equal employment opportunities regardless of sex, race, religion or belief, ethnic or national origin, disability, age, citizenship, marital, domestic or civil partnership status, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy or related condition (including breastfeeding) or any other basis protected by applicable law. If you have a disability or additional need that requires accommodation, please do not hesitate to let us know.

Hybrid working

It’s hugely important for us to be able to share knowledge and establish relationships with each other, and we find it easier to do this if we spend time together in person. This is why we’ve decided to follow a hybrid model, and would require you to be able to come into the office 3 days a week (currently Tue, Wed, and one other day depending on which team you’re in).  As an equal opportunities employer we are committed to building an equal and inclusive team. If you have additional needs that would prevent you from following this hybrid approach, we’d be happy to talk through these if you’re selected for an initial screening call.

Please note that when you submit an application, your data will be processed in line with our privacy policy.

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