Job Description

POSITION: Research Associate I (AIM4Lung (AI and ML Modeling to Manage and Mitigate Lung Cancer)

SITE: MaRS

DEPARTMENT: Research

REPORTS TO: Senior Manager, Engineering

COMPENSATION: Will be commensurate with previous experience and University Health Network approved salary ranges.

STATUS: Permanent Full-time

University Health Network (UHN) is looking for an experienced professional to fill the key role of Research Associate I in our Princess Margaret Cancer Center.

Transforming lives and communities through excellence in care, discovery and learning

The University Health Network, where \xe2\x80\x9cabove all else the needs of patients come first\xe2\x80\x9d, encompasses Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, Toronto General Hospital, Toronto Western Hospital, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and the Michener Institute of Education at UHN. The breadth of research, the complexity of the cases treated, and the magnitude of its educational enterprise has made UHN a national and international resource for patient care, research and education. With a long tradition of ground breaking firsts and a purpose of \xe2\x80\x9cTransforming lives and communities through excellence in care, discovery and learning\xe2\x80\x9d, the University Health Network (UHN), Canada\xe2\x80\x99s largest research teaching hospital, brings together over 16,000 employees, more than 1,200 physicians, 8,000+ students, and many volunteers. UHN is a caring, creative place where amazing people are amazing the world.

University Health Network (UHN) is a research hospital affiliated with the University of Toronto and a member of the Toronto Academic Health Science Network. The scope of research and complexity of cases at UHN have made it a national and international source for discovery, education and patient care. Research across UHN\'s five research institutes spans the full spectrum of diseases and disciplines, including cancer, cardiovascular sciences, transplantation, neural and sensory sciences, musculoskeletal health, rehabilitation sciences, and community and population health.

Background:

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer related deaths in Canada and the world, causing more deaths in North America than the next three major cancer types combined. The treatment and management of lung cancer patients at Princess Margaret (PM) is among the best in the world but has been slow to leverage modern digital innovations to improve clinical practice. We are trying to change that.

AIM4Lung (AI and ML Modeling to Manage and Mitigate Lung Cancer) is a UHN-based research program led by Dr. Geoffrey Liu that is focused on accessing, understanding, and leveraging big data from real-world clinical settings to advance our fundamental understanding of lung cancer, to predict and prevent undesirable cancer events, and to improve the clinical management of lung cancer patients at PM and beyond. This program is composed of 4 major pillars: Data Access, Data Wrangling, Natural Language Processing, and Advanced Modeling and Analytics. We have access to an enormous and growing real-world clinical database that includes rich and comprehensive data for patient treatments, molecular testing, lab results, patient-reported outcomes, medical images, as well as free-text reports from radiology, pathology, clinic visits, and much more. We have developed an agile, productive, and interdisciplinary machine learning group that tackles independent academic projects. In addition, we collaborate with industry partners and research institutes such as TECHNA and Cancer Digital Intelligence to advance our goals of integrating AI into our electronic health system, and of building a federated clinical data and learning network across Canada.

We are currently looking to hire a motivated Research Associate to oversee this innovative computational research program.

General duties:

• Coordinate meetings with project team members, including trainees, fellows, developers, scientists, and clinicians from multiple different academic and industry groups
• Summarize and disseminate project tasks and timelines to relevant members
• Contribute to the preparation of project documents including ethics board applications and amendments, abstracts, proposals and manuscripts
• Contribute to the preparation of grant applications for research funding from various sources (government, academic and industry).
• Oversee study materials and databases, and coordinate data access and release for individual projects
• Help trouble-shoot project-related issues as they arise
• Hold regular project update meetings with Dr. Geoffrey Liu to discuss progress, challenges, issues, new ideas/directions, etc.

General eligibility criteria:

• A graduate degree, preferably in computer science, life science, engineering, or related fields
• An understanding of machine learning, cluster computing, and development principles
• Experience managing projects (this can include graduate level thesis or research projects)
• Able to work with a larger team as well as independently
• Experience with scientific writing
• Able to effectively communicate both in technical and lay terms across disciplines
• A curious, critical, and conceptual thinker
• While an in-depth or technical knowledge of the four AIM4Lung pillars is by no means required, an interest in learning the general scientific aspects for each, and the clinical/biological relevance, is required.
• Available to start in this role as soon as possible

Environment:

The Liu Lab research group resides in the Princess Margaret Cancer Research Tower in the MaRS building, in Toronto\xe2\x80\x99s Discovery district (101 College Street). The Liu Lab is a friendly mix of trainees, part-time and full-time staff who work collaboratively to help each other achieve their goals. The AIM4Lung Program Manager will get to work closely with people within Dr. Geoffrey Liu\xe2\x80\x99s lab, as well as other local, national, and international groups.

Compensation will be commensurate with previous experience and University Health Network approved salary ranges.

If interested, please e-mail Dr. Geoffrey Liu at and cc Cathi Brown ( ) and Benjamin Grant ( ). Please use the subject header: \xe2\x80\x9cApplying for AIM4Lung Research Associate position\xe2\x80\x9d and include a brief cover letter and resume.

Vaccines (COVID-19 and others) are a requirement of the job unless you have an exemption on a medical ground pursuant to the Ontario Human Rights Code.

Posting Date: December 23, 2022 Ending Date: Until Filled

For current UHN employees, only those who have successfully completed their probationary period, have a good employee record along with satisfactory attendance in accordance with UHN\'s attendance management program, and possess all the required experience and qualifications should apply.

University Health Network thanks all applicants, however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

UHN is a respectful, caring, and inclusive workplace. We are committed to championing accessibility, diversity and equal opportunity and welcomes all applicants including but not limited to: all religions and ethnicities, LGBTQ2s+, BIPOC, persons with disabilities and all others who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas. Requests for accommodation can be made at any stage of the recruitment process providing the applicant has met the Bona-fide requirements for the open position. Applicants need to make their requirements known when contacted.

University Health Network