Research Programmer
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania•Philadelphia, PA
•Onsite
About The Position
The Research Programmer will design, develop, and deploy artificial intelligence and machine learning models to advance kidney disease research through the Nephrobase platform. This position involves building and maintaining database infrastructure and data pipelines, implementing AI/ML algorithms on large-scale multi-omic and clinical datasets, and collaborating closely with wet lab scientists, bioinformaticians, and clinicians in the Susztak Laboratory.
Requirements
- Bachelor of Science and 2 to 3 years of experience or equivalent combination of education and experience is required.
- Computer Science, Data Science, Bioinformatics, or a closely related field preferred.
- Coursework or project experience in machine learning, deep learning, or artificial intelligence.
- Proficiency in Python and familiarity with common ML frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, scikit-learn).
- Strong communication skills and ability to work collaboratively in an interdisciplinary research environment.
Nice To Haves
- Experience with biological or biomedical data (genomic, transcriptomic, or clinical)
- Familiarity with SQL or NoSQL databases
- Experience with data visualization libraries (e.g., Plotly, Dash, Tableau)
Responsibilities
- Design, develop, and implement machine learning and deep learning models to analyze kidney disease genomic and clinical data in the Nephrobase platform
- Build and maintain Nephrobase database infrastructure, including data ingestion pipelines and query APIs
- Process and analyze large-scale multi-omic datasets (genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, clinical) to support kidney disease research
- Develop interactive data visualization tools and dashboards to communicate research findings to the broader team
- Collaborate with wet lab researchers, bioinformaticians, and clinicians to integrate and interpret diverse data types
- Write, document, and maintain clean and reproducible code, data pipelines, and computational workflows
- Assist in preparation of figures, data tables, and code for grant reports, presentations, and manuscripts
- Implement data quality control, validation workflows, and testing to ensure integrity of research data
- Coordinate data sharing and communication with external collaborators under established data governance protocols
- Perform additional duties as assigned
Benefits
- Excellent healthcare
- Tuition benefits for employees and their families
- Generous retirement benefits
- Wide variety of professional development opportunities
- Supportive work and family benefits
- Wealth of health and wellness programs and resources
- Comprehensive medical, prescription, behavioral health, dental, vision, and life insurance benefits
- Flexible spending accounts for health care and dependent care expenses
- Tuition assistance for employees, spouses, and dependent children
- Retirement plans (Basic, Matching, and Supplemental) with pre-tax or Roth basis options
- Wide variety of investment options through TIAA and Vanguard
- Substantial amount of time away from work
- Long-Term Care Insurance
- Wellness and Work-life Resources
- Professional and Personal Development resources
- Access to a wide range of University resources as well as cultural and recreational activities
- Discounts on arts and entertainment, transportation, and mortgages
- Free and discounted admission and memberships to Penn arts and cultural centers and museums
- Savings on goods and services such as new cars, cellular phone service plans, movie tickets, and theme park admission
- Flexible Work Hours
- Penn Home Ownership Services (forgivable loan for eligible employees)
- Adoption Assistance
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
