Jobs

This job posting is for a Principal Investigator Assistant or Associate Professor position in the area of Drug discovery assisted by Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) of Université de Montréal in Montréal, Québec, Canada.

Affiliation:  ​​​​​​Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal

The Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) in partnership with the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine of the Faculty of Medicine of Université de Montréal (UdeM) invites applications for a Principal Investigator and Assistant or Associate Professor position in the area of Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence applied to the search for new treatments in human health, including mainly small molecules and possibly some aspects of chemical biology such as unnatural biopolymers (amino acids or nucleic acids) or natural products.

In particular, we are looking for an exceptional scientist to lead a research program in machine learning/artificial intelligence applied to drug discovery, which may include, but not limited to: predictions of compound activity, predictions of compound physical/pharmaceutical properties, virtual screening of drug librairies, drug optimization, and design of retrosynthetic schemes. The candidate should be an experienced specialist in developing artificial intelligence algorithms, including for example, deep learning networks, reinforcement learning, diffusion models, massive language models, or any other relevant techniques.

About IRIC

IRIC’s primary goal is to better understand the biological processes that contribute to cancer and identify ground-breaking avenues in the development of effective therapies. IRIC is located in a state-of-the-art building on the main campus of UdeM. It currently hosts 27 Principal Investigators and nearly 450 trainees, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, research associates and support staff. IRIC also comprises several cutting edge core facilities, including Bioimaging, Biophysics & NMR, Flow Cytometry, Genomics, High-Throughput Screening (chemical, RNAi, and CRISPR), Bioinformatics, Histology, Medicinal Chemistry, Proteomics, and In Vivo Biology/Animal facility. Most importantly, IRIC houses one of the largest Drug Discovery Units in an academic setting in Canada. Its activities are led by a team of 65 expert chemists and biologists who have extensive drug discovery experience in an industrial setting. A collegial, dynamic and curiosity-driven research environment is a defining feature of the Institute.

We offer competitive recruitment packages commensurate with experience and qualifications, a research intensive environment, state-of-the art facilities and competitive graduate training programs. The new Principal Investigator will be appointed as a Faculty in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine of the Faculty of Medicine of UdeM. The selected candidate will be considered for a philanthropic chair in AI applied to life sciences and may be eligible for a Canada Research Chair (https://www.chairs-chaires.gc.ca/). Access to IRIC’s core facilities and extensive expertise of IRIC’s drug discovery unit will provide the candidate with a unique environment to validate the proposed algorithmic approaches. Within its ecosystem, the Université de Montréal is home to the Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms (MILA) and the Institute for Data Valorization (IVADO), contributing to making Montreal a global hub for artificial intelligence.

The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine of the Faculty of Medicine includes 30 regular professors and more than 60 clinical or adjunct professors. Research teams address fundamental biomedical research questions in close connection with translational and clinical research conducted in the Faculty of medicine network of affiliated hospital research centers and institutes. Through its cutting-edge teaching programs in biochemistry and bioinformatics, the Department supports the training of more than 350 undergraduate students and 200 graduate students. We are particularly interested in attracting colleagues who share our commitment to teaching, mentoring and fostering a collaborative research environment that embraces both excellence and diversity.

For more information, please visit the following web sites:

• IRIC (https://www.iric.ca/en)
• Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (https://biochimie.umontreal.ca/en/)
• Faculty of Medecine (https://medecine.umontreal.ca/medical-school/)
• Université de Montréal (https://www.umontreal.ca/en/)

The Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO), Canada’s Centre for Pandemic Research, is a world leader in infectious disease research and vaccine development for humans and animals. Located at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada, VIDO is home to one of the largest and most advanced containment level 3 facilities in the world. To strengthen the preparedness for emerging infectious diseases we are currently expanding our infrastructure to include containment level 4 capacity, a GMP vaccine manufacturing facility, and a new animal housing facility. Our vision includes having the capacity to study any emerging disease in any animal model embracing a One Health approach to prevent emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases in humans and animals.

We are seeking a Principal Research Scientist in Bioinformatics to join our team, reporting to the Director of Research.

Appointments will be made as full-time permanent Principal Research Scientist joining VIDO’s team of internationally recognized Principal Research Scientists working in fields of Virology, Bacteriology, Immunology and Vaccine Development. Furthermore, VIDO has a team of veterinarians and animal care technicians with extensive experience in the humane care and conduct of infectious disease research in biocontainment using a variety of large and small animal models.  Appointed candidates will receive generous start-up support and a starting salary highly competitive with comparable academic positions in Canada.  A comprehensive benefits package, including health & dental, life insurance, pension plan, and six weeks’ vacation is part of a competitive compensation package.

Position Summary

The Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute (LTRI) of Sinai Health System, a University of Toronto affiliated research centre, is seeking an emerging leader in the broad area of Data Science and Health Research. The appointment will be for a Principal Investigator, rank equivalent to Assistant Professor, with the anticipated starting date of September 1, 2023.  We seek applicants that will develop independent, outstanding and innovative programs in Data Science with a specific focus on applications to health research.  Topic areas include, but are not limited to: genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics, pathogen genomics, statistical genetics, epidemiology, risk prediction modeling, data linkage, bioinformatics, quantitative biomedical image analysis, machine learning analytics and artificial intelligence application in health science for a wide range of complex diseases.

The Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute is one of Canada’s leading biomedical research institutes offering a stimulating research environment.  The successful candidate will join the LTRI whose faculty members are internationally renowned for their work in multiple areas of cutting-edge research.  With numerous discoveries in cancer, diabetes, genetic disorders, women’s and infants’ health among others, the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute is committed to excellence in health research and the training of young investigators.  Large-scale health data has been collected through many research initiatives and platforms.  Within the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, the Prosserman Centre for Population Health Research includes a group of multi-disciplinary scientists with focus on quantitative research of complex diseases, including population and statistical genomics based on large-scale cohorts and biobank data, and multi-omics integration.  Partnering with the Data Science Institute, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Department of Statistical Science, and Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto, the Prosserman Centre for Population Health Research is the hub of an active research community of public health science, genomic epidemiology, omic data science and statistical methodology.

The Institute provides a research-intensive environment with modern and innovative core facilities that include next-generation sequencing, single cell platforms, proteomics, robotics and advanced cellular imaging that drive technology development and are housed in the Network Biology Collaborative Centre and the Nikon Center of Excellence. LTRI has a fully accredited Biospecimen Repository for biobanking and a designated Research Training Centre that hosts trainees across disciplines from around the world.

Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute research groups engage in productive collaborations within the Institute and are well integrated in the larger University of Toronto community, as well as national and international collaborations. The University of Toronto has one of the most concentrated biomedical research communities in the world, including 9 academic hospital research institutes that are fully affiliated with the University, in addition to government agencies such as the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Public Health Ontario, Vector Institute focused on artificial intelligence, and the newly established Data Science Institute dedicated to large-scale data science. This community attracts more than $1.2 billion in annual research investment. Toronto is a vibrant, safe and multicultural city with excellent quality of life.