Bioinformatics Research Associate

About Finch

Finch is a clinical-stage company developing novel microbiome drugs to serve patients with serious unmet medical needs. Our machine learning-based platform mines molecular data collected from human interventional studies to identify the microbial communities driving positive patient outcomes in different disease areas. By developing drugs from microbial communities that have already demonstrated therapeutic effects in humans, we are pioneering a new approach to drug discovery and rapidly transforming the promise of the microbiome into a reality for patients.

Our lead therapeutic candidate, CP101, is initially targeting the prevention of recurrent C. difficile infection (CDI). CP101 recently met its primary endpoint in a large placebo-controlled trial in recurrent CDI, providing the first positive pivotal data for an oral microbiome drug. We also have programs targeting the treatment of chronic hepatitis B, children with autism and serious GI symptoms, as well as two programs partnered with Takeda Pharmaceuticals targeting inflammatory bowel disease.

 

Position Summary 

As a member of our Data Science team, your mission is to develop tools and execute analyses to support development of successful microbial therapies. You will further our microbial drug development platform by mining microbial datasets, developing our statistical analysis platform, and working closely with both bench scientists and clinicians to test functional hypotheses about microbial community disease.  

  

Responsibilities  

• Collecting, cleaning, processing, and analyzing high-throughput microbial data, human clinical data, and in vitro data
• Creating effective graphical outputs to communicate results
• Reviewing literature and presenting summaries to inform experimental design
• Working closely with bench scientists to analyze microbial function and phenotype experiments
• Working with clinicians to help analyze clinical trial data
• Communicating analysis results with a variety of audiences including clinicians, bench scientists, industry executives, and academic researchers
• Working effectively as part of a multifunctional team in support of a commercially viable therapeutics discovery platform
• Performing statistical tests on high throughput data
• Developing bioinformatic analysis packages in a cloud environment 

  

Qualifications 

• BA or MS in computational biology, bioinformatics, or related field
• Familiarity with big data analysis and visualization, especially using Python
• Ability to work independently
• Ability to adapt to a fast–paced startup environment and perform analyses in a time sensitive manner
• Strong organizational and communications skills
• Passion, humility, and excitement to drive research forward

 

Additional Desired Skills & Experience (not required) 

• Familiarity with cloud computing, in particular Google Cloud Platform 
• Familiarity with code parallelization
• Familiarity with microbiology, microbial genomics, and/or immunology

  

More About Finch

Here at Finch, we strive to create the best work environment and experience for you through our formal benefits programs and fringe perks. Together, we hope that we’ll create a fun & supportive environment in and out of the workplace as we strive to create a new class of therapeutics together to help patients.

• Our formal benefits include medical, dental, and vision coverage through Blue Cross Blue Shield in addition to life insurance and long-term & short-term disability policies. We offer discretionary and flexible paid time off policies. Should you choose to start or grow your family while working at Finch, we aspire to lead our peers by offering several months of paid parental leave. We also offer a generous non-discretionary 401K contribution to help teammates save for life beyond Finch in the future and other savings and investment opportunities.
• We also try to keep the workplace an inspiring and motivating place to work with our fringe perks. Our facilities in Somerville, MA include an in-office gym with a shower and towel service, fully stocked kitchen with free snacks, iced coffee & flavored/sparkling waters on tap, and highly subsidized meals through LeanBox. We sponsor ride-sharing to and from the office from preset locations around Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville. We are always evaluating our fringe perks and hope to grow them alongside our team.

*Only facility-dependent employees are working on-site in Somerville until further notice.

 

Equal Opportunity Employer

We are committed to recruiting, developing, and retaining the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool.  All aspects of employment including the decision to hire or promote, will be based on aptitude, performance, and business need. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, military and veteran status, or any other legally protected status. Finch will make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities, in accordance with applicable law.

 

 

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