Bioinformatician I

Position: Bioinformatician I
Location: MaRS Centre, Toronto
Department: Drug Discovery Program
Reports To: Scientific Advisor
Salary: Commensurate with level of experience; total compensation includes a competitive benefits plan (Sun Life), plus a defined benefit pension plan (HOOPP)
Hours: 35 hours/week
Job Type: Hybrid
Status: Full-Time, Temporary (1-year contract with possible conversion to permanent position)

The Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) is seeking a Bioinformatician who possesses the relevant training to join the Drug Discovery (DD) Program. The program aims to help efficiently translate discoveries made in Ontario’s labs into novel oncology therapies, spanning the entire drug discovery process from target identification and validation to clinical candidate selection.  The DD Program is collaborating with OICR’s Adaptive Oncology (AO) to develop computational tools to identify and prioritize biological targets and biomarkers. The AO Program seeks to develop knowledge and approaches to monitor cancer over time and in response to treatment, to enable precise and proactive clinical management.

This position is temporary, full-time for one-year, with the possibility of conversion to a permanent position.

The successful candidate will work closely with data scientists and biologists from OICR’s Adaptive Oncology and Drug Discovery programs to co-develop novel algorithms/methods and pipelines for target/biomarker discovery. This is an exciting opportunity to learn about the latest developments in drug discovery and the use of various bioinformatic and machine learning approaches in computational biology, while contributing to the development of new treatments for cancer.

While most work is completed remotely, there will be occasional onsite team meetings or events, where attendance is expected.

About OICR

OICR is Ontario’s cancer research institute. We bring together people from across the province and around the world to improve the lives of everyone affected by cancer. We take on the biggest challenges in cancer research and deliver real-world solutions to find cancer earlier and treat it more effectively. We are committed to helping people living with cancer, as well as future generations, live longer and healthier lives.

Launched in December 2005, OICR is an independent institute funded by the Government of Ontario through the Ministry of Colleges and Universities.

For more information about OICR, please visit the website at www.oicr.on.ca.

To learn more about working at OICR, visit our career page.

Position Responsibilities

• Design, test, and maintain custom analysis pipelines on local High-Performance Computing (HPC) clusters.
• Perform downstream data analysis, including expression, pathway, mutation, and clinical association studies.
• Integrate large and diverse datasets from multiple platforms and conduct unified analyses.
• Design and develop novel algorithms for drug target prediction.
• Automate data processing and generate visual outputs and user-friendly interfaces.
• Foster strong collaborations with other programs including Adaptive Oncology at OICR.

Qualifications

• B.Sc. or higher degree in biological sciences, computational biology, or equivalent education or work experience.
• Strong knowledge of programming and scripting languages like Perl, R, and Java is required.
• Experience in a Unix/Linux environment, and Python, statistical analysis tools (e.g. R) and database programming (e.g. SQL) and Data Analysis Pipeline.
• Knowledge of common genomics database (e.g. EGA, dbGAP), expression databases (TCGA/GTEx/CCLE), and protein-protein interaction databases (e.g. STRING/IntAct/Reactome), cell line database (DepMap), and clinical databases.
• Knowledge of cancer biology (pathways, mutations, and functional annotation) is beneficial.
• Skills in data management and reproducibility including generation, backup and version control.
• Excellent communication skills (verbal and written) in a multi-disciplinary team environment.
• Ability to work independently (take ownership of assigned tasks) and as a team member.