Specialist in Obesity Genetics Target Discovery

The Position

We are looking for a highly motivated Specialist in Obesity Genetics Target Discovery, to work on state-of-the-art projects in human genetics-driven target discovery for cardiometabolic disease.

In this role, you will have the opportunity to identify – using human genetics and other omics data – therapeutic opportunities to treat patients with cardiometabolic diseases. This will involve applying your expertise in data analytics and the interpretation of human genetics to identify novel targets. Through close collaboration with computational biologists and in vitro scientists, you will combine evidence from multiple sources to identify biological targets and pathways with strong human evidence for causal roles in cardiometabolic diseases. You will also assess human genetic evidence for targets selected by other means

We are particularly interested in hearing from candidates with human genetics experience in a pharmaceutical setting to enhance our target discovery efforts.

You will be expected to develop and drive your own projects, while also providing your expertise to existing projects within the Human Genetics Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Oxford. Our research centre is a collaborative endeavour, and you will work alongside statistical geneticists, clinicians, and computational and laboratory scientists from across the organisation and with external collaborators to help get the right treatment to the right patient.

We welcome candidates with a good team ethic, who pay close attention to detail, and who enjoy a fast-paced, dynamic environment where creative intellectual independence and knowledge sharing are actively encouraged. Most importantly, you must have a strong interest in applying your skills in the field of drug development.

Qualifications

You should have a PhD in human genetics or in a similar relevant discipline alongside 5+ years of experience in handling and analysing genetic data in an industry or academic setting. You should also have familiarity with the application of omics data in interpreting genetic association signals.

Knowledge or experience in working in obesity or other cardiometabolic disease areas e.g. renal, cardiovascular or diabetes is a requirement. You should also have experience with statistical analysis, data manipulation, managing large and high dimensional datasets and excellent computational skills in languages including but not limited to python, R, Perl and bash.

About the Department

You will be a member of our Genetics Target Discovery Department which is part of the Human Genetics CoE led by Vice President, Joanna Howson PhD. The focus of the CoE is to use data science and human genetics to discover and develop new drug targets and biomarkers through a range of human-centric approaches e.g., high-throughput genetic discovery screens; Mendelian randomization; pLoF variant screens and precision medicine approaches relevant to type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease, CVD, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), obesity and rare endocrine and blood disorders.

You will be based at Novo Nordisk’s research Centre Oxford (NNRCO) in the heart of the world-leading University of Oxford Medical campus. NNRCO is focused on bringing together in vitro and in silico scientists to discover new biology and targets across the spectrum of cardiometabolic diseases. You can read more about Novo Nordisk Research Centre Oxford at: http://www.novonordisk.co.uk/about-novo-nordisk-in-uk/oxford-research-centre.html

The CoE is anchored in the newly established Digital Science & Innovation (DSI) organisation within Research & Early Development at Novo Nordisk. DSI is supporting the digital journey across all our therapy areas in R&ED. In DSI, we work in multidisciplinary teams in strong collaboration with all areas across R&ED and R&ED IT. We participate in drug development projects across the value chain, from early discovery to pre-clinical development. We engage in external collaborations to ensure access to the latest research and technology enablers, and we automate our labs and processes, and we focus on developing and retaining top talent.

Working at Novo Nordisk

At Novo Nordisk, we use our skills, dedication, and ambition to help people with diabetes and other cardiometabolic diseases. We offer the chance to be part of a truly global workplace, where passion and engagement are met with opportunities for professional and personal development. We are a proud life-science company, and life is our reason to exist. We’re inspired by life in all its forms and shapes, ups and downs, opportunities, and challenges. For employees at Novo Nordisk, life means many things – from the building blocks of life that form the basis of ground-breaking scientific research to our rich personal lives that motivate and energise us to perform our best at work. Ultimately, life is why we’re all here - to ensure that people can lead a life independent of chronic disease.

Contact

Do you have questions in regard to the role? Then please contact Senior Director of Target Discovery Ciara Vangjeli at cavj@novonordisk.com. Please apply directly through the career page, as we are not able to review candidates sharing their CVs by e-mail or other channels.

Deadline

Apply before Sunday the 2nd of April 2023

We commit to an inclusive recruitment process and equality of opportunity for all our job applicants.

At Novo Nordisk we recognize that it is no longer good enough to aspire to be the best company in the world. We need to aspire to be the best company for the world and we know that this is only possible with talented employees with diverse perspectives, backgrounds and cultures. We are therefore committed to creating an inclusive culture that celebrates the diversity of our employees, the patients we serve and communities we operate in. Together, we’re life changing.