Research Intern

Job Description

About the Company

• Lensa: Lensa is a career site that helps job seekers find jobs in the US. It is not a staffing firm or agency and does not hire directly for the jobs it lists. Instead, Lensa promotes jobs on LinkedIn on behalf of its direct clients, recruitment ad agencies, and marketing partners. For this specific position, Lensa is partnering with DirectEmployers to promote a job for MD Anderson Cancer Center.
• MD Anderson Cancer Center: This is a prominent cancer treatment and research institution. The specific job is located within the Department of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, in Dr. Ye Zheng’s lab.

About the Job: Research Intern

This is a full-time (or part-time) Research Intern position available in Dr. Ye Zheng’s lab at the Department of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Lab Focus:
Dr. Zheng’s lab focuses on interdisciplinary problems spanning statistical, computational, and biomedical sciences. Their research involves developing methods to understand gene cis-regulatory mechanisms by analyzing various types of “omics” data, including transcriptomics, epigenomics, proteomics, and three-dimensional (3D) chromatin interactions. More information about the lab and projects can be found at https://compbiowizard.github.io./.

Learning Objectives / What the Intern Will Do:
The selected Research Intern will join a dynamic, and highly collaborative lab. The primary objective is to leverage single-cell/bulk-cell multi-omics data, spatial omics data, and image data to identify cancer-specific mechanisms that explain differences in treatment effectiveness and side effects among patients. This role offers an opportunity to contribute to significant biological and clinical problems that also present methodological challenges, by developing innovative statistical models and computational methods.

Eligibility Requirements:

• Education: Applicants must hold a bachelor’s or master’s degree in:
• Statistics
• Computer Science
• Biostatistics
• Bioinformatics
• Computational Biology
• Engineering
• Data Science
• Or a related field.
• Solid Training in Statistics/Mathematics:
• Past course or research experience in statistics, including but not limited to mathematical statistics, statistical inference, and linear regression.
• Strong Computational Skills:
• Proficiency in programming languages: R, Python, and Shell.
• Extensive experience using high-performance computing environments on Linux servers.
• Knowledge of how to submit batch-run jobs.
• Experience in processing and analyzing bulk/single-cell genomic data, or spatial omics data, or image data.
• Experience in developing computational tools (e.g., R packages, Python modules, interactive webpages, computational pipelines).
• Ability to conduct highly organized and reproducible research.
• Communication & Collaboration:
• Strong communication, writing, and collaboration abilities.
• Publication(s) and/or manuscript(s) under review are recommended as evidence of academic writing ability.

Application Information:

To apply, interested candidates must email the following documents to Dr. Ye Zheng at yzheng8@mdanderson.org:

1. A cover letter detailing:
• Past contributions to the field.
• Future research plan.
• Career development plan.
• Scientific motivation and interests that align with Dr. Zheng’s lab.
2. A curriculum vitae (CV) including:
• Publications.
• GitHub links to past project codes or developed software.
3. Emails and phone numbers of three references.

Position Information:

• Stipend: The position offers a stipend between $28,000 and $36,000.
• Term: The position is expected to last until December 30, 2025.
• Faculty Mentor: Dr. Ye Zheng.

For questions specifically about the job posting, contact support@lensa.com.