Skip to main content

BRET Career Development ASPIRE Program

ASPIRE Internship: Data Science Intern (Computational Biology/Data Science), remote, Decode Health/IQuity Labs, Nashville, TN

Posted by on Wednesday, March 3, 2021 in Announcements .

ASPIRE Internship Opportunity:

Data Science Intern (Computational Biology/Data Science)
Joint internship position with both IQuity Labs, Inc. and Decode Health, Inc.
(remote) Nashville, TN

 Reports to:     

  • Lukasz Wylezinski, PhD, Director of Data Analytics – Research & Development (main contact)
  • Jamieson Gray, Senior Director, Product & Analysis

 

IQuity

IQuity, Inc. uses genomic datasets to detect and monitor chronic disease. At IQuity, we developed game-changing blood tests using RNA data (genomic) to accurately identify autoimmune disease earlier than current, conventional testing methodologies. The application of data science and machine learning is the core of our business and drives our technological development.

Decode Health

Decode Health uses AI and machine learning to create actionable, predictive insights that enable care earlier, leading to improved outcomes and lower costs. With a focus on chronic disease management, COVID-19, and the impact of COVID-19 on chronic disease outcomes, Decode Health’s predictive insights drive actions to reduce future disease risk and adverse events. Stakeholders, including payers, laboratories, and care managers understand who to target for testing and other clinical interventions and why. Decode Health’s solution is easily deployed and uses multiple types of public health and clinical data including insurance claims, electronic health records, and testing results. Given that 80% of a person’s health is driven by social, physical and environmental factors, Decode Health combines clinical and social determinants of health data to provide context for predictions in order to understand the factors that influence disease risk and outcomes.

 

Position Description:

At IQuity and Decode Health we are seeking a creative, highly motivated Data Science Intern (Computational Biology/Data Science) to join our existing team building machine learning models to predict chronic and infectious disease outcomes. A variety of data sources will be leveraged including genomic data from peripheral whole blood, social determinants of health information, and population-level datasets ranging from insurance claims to real-time patient surveys.

 

Specific Objectives/Tasks:

  • Contribute to ongoing development of analysis pipelines leveraging Decode and IQuity’s existing framework to perform descriptive and predictive studies using genomic and population health data. The ideal candidate will be able to lead or contribute to the following objectives within both companies:
    • Visualization Discovery: Pre-modeling (raw) and post-model results data visualization, storytelling, and report development for multiple data use cases and patient populations. Current disease focus areas are chronic disease and viral respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19. Gene expression datasets represent a variety of chronic, inflammatory diseases.
    • Recurring activities: Collaboration to enhance standard visualization processes and refreshed client reporting
    • Process refinement: Providing input to further refine Decode/IQuity’s multi-tool analysis pipeline
    • New data research: Identifying novel enrichment datasets, validation of source information and implementation of these data sources into the automated framework
  • Applicants will be able to use the AutoML framework that already exists at IQuity/Decode to construct predictive models. Use of R/Python or similar software packages to enhance ongoing analysis efforts in autoimmune datasets and chronic disease population datasets are welcomed. Examples could include development of feature selection algorithms or novel methods to enhance prediction explanation results beyond what is currently possible with the existing computational pipelines.
  • Communicate findings to R&D team and leadership to ensure successful implementation of projects alongside IQuity/Decode customer relationships and ongoing business development efforts.
  • Participate in weekly data team interactions.

 

Desired Skills and Experience:

  • Applicants must be a current Vanderbilt University PhD student or postdoctoral fellow.
  • Candidates with >2 years’ computer programming experience are preferred. Research projects leveraging this expertise should be highlighted on the submitted resume.
  • Familiarity with machine learning methods (SVMs, boosting methods, etc). Applicants should highlight relevant knowledge of these platforms on their resume.
  • Applicants must have a strong grasp of the English language in spoken and written form.
  • Applicants must submit and pass a background check and sign Non-Disclosure and Non-Compete Agreements with IQuity and Decode Health.

 

Work Environment:

This will be a virtual position due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. IQuity and Decode Health’s offices are located behind Union Station in downtown Nashville.

IQuity and Decode Health offer a unique and dynamic work environment that is fast-paced yet affords significant flexibility. For that reason, employees at both companies need to be highly self-motivated and proactive at identifying and taking responsibility for tasks.  Extension of an internship offer implicitly implies that we consider an individual to be capable of thriving in such a versatile and unique work environment.

 

INTERNSHIP DETAILS

  • Internship start date is flexible. Candidates will be evaluated on a rolling basis. Estimated start date will be March 2021 continuing through May 2021 (approx. 12 weeks, with the option to extend pending review).
  • Internship is paid, part-time (8-10 hours per week, more hours possible as desired by candidate).
  • Position is remote due to COVID

Applications due by noon, Monday, March 22, 2021

To apply:

  • Schedule a Zoom meeting with Ashley Brady prior to the application deadline: https://calendly.com/ashley-brady  prior to the application deadline. (Please go ahead and schedule a meeting with Ashley after the deadline. She is out this week on Spring break)

Your information will then be passed along to the organization and they will contact you directly to schedule an interview.

Please review ASPIRE Internship FAQs: Found here

For further questions, please contact Ashley Brady (ashley.brady@vanderbilt.edu).

Eligibility requirements

  • Applicants must be a current Vanderbilt University PhD student or a current postdoctoral fellow.
  • All PhD students must have completed all coursework for their degree prior to the start of the internship.
  • Biomedical PhD students must also have passed their qualifying exams before the application deadline.
  • Students and postdocs may not participate in more than one internship at a time.  More than one application may be submitted at a single time, but only one position can be accepted.
  • If you are not in a department supported by the BRET office, we will also require that you complete a form guaranteeing PI approval to participate in this program.  Please contact Ashley Brady at ashley.brady@vanderbilt.edu for more information.
  • If you are an international student or postdoctoral fellow, your visa status may affect your work eligibility. Please contact Ashley Brady (ashley.brady@vanderbilt.edu) to discuss this further.

 

Tags: ,

VIEW MORE EVENTS >