Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences (MBRU; www.mbru.ac.ae) is part of Dubai Health, the first integrated academic health system in the UAE. Dubai Health seeks to strengthen Dubai as a global leader in health care, medical education, research, and scientific innovation, to enhance the capabilities of Dubai's healthcare sector. Dubai Health is managing and operating 54 sites, including 6 government hospitals, 26 ambulatory health centers, 20 medical fitness centers, Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences (MBRU), and Al Jalila Foundation.
ROLE PURPOSE:
The Postdoctoral Research Fellow will lead computational research supporting therapeutic development programs, with a focus on antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs), RNA biology, and functional genomics.
The role involves multi-omics data analysis, integration of transcriptomic and genomic datasets, and development of computational pipelines to support target discovery, validation, and translational research initiatives.
Strategic Responsibilities:
- Contribute to building machine learning models and computational strategy for therapeutic and functional genomics programs
- Build deep neural network-based models to ssupport data-driven decision making for target prioritization and validation
- Collaborate with wet lab teams to integrate experimental and computational workflows
- Identify and implement advanced bioinformatics tools and pipelines
Core Responsibilities:
- Building machine learning models using multi-omics data for neuro-oncology projects
- Analyze RNA-seq, long-read sequencing (PacBio), and other omics datasets
- Develop and maintain bioinformatics pipelines for transcriptomics and genomics
- Perform differential expression, pathway analysis, and functional annotation
- Integrate multi-omics datasets (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics where applicable)
- Support ASO target identification and validation through data-driven approaches
- Collaborate with lab scientists to interpret experimental results
- Maintain reproducible workflows (R/Python, workflow managers)
- Contribute to publications, grants, and scientific outputs
- Present findings internally and at scientific meetings
- Participate in teaching and education-related activities within the College of Medicine, MBRU.
Community Service
- Seeks and develops relationship with suitable external partners in order to raise the profile of the College and the University.
- Provides opportunities for assisting professional colleagues to maintain and enhance their skills by offering Continuing Professional development in their specialty.
Self-Management Responsibilities:
- Defines performance goals at the start of the year in discussion with the reporting manager and ensures that the goals are monitored and achieved during the year.
- Takes ownership of his/her own learning agenda by identifying development needs in consultation with the reporting manager and working towards bridging the gaps through various means which go beyond just training.
- Understands the competencies relevant to his/her role and works towards displaying as well as developing these effectively.
- Keeps abreast of relevant professional/industry developments, new techniques and current issues through continued education and professional networks.
Minimum Qualifications:
- PhD in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Genomics, or related field
- Strong experience in RNA-seq and transcriptomic data analysis
- Proficiency in R and/or Python
- Experience with NGS data analysis pipelines
- Ability to work independently and design computational workflows
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with long-read sequencing (PacBio, Iso-Seq)
- Exposure to therapeutics, RNA biology, or functional genomics
- Familiarity with multi-omics integration
- Experience working with clinical or translational datasets
- Publication record in relevant field
- Written and spoken English is essential, Arabic is preferred
Years of Experience:
PhD in machine learning or artificial intelligence, bioinformatics, computational biology, genomics, or related field or a related field from an accredited institute/college/university.
Minimum 1 – 2 years of relevant post-doctoral experience.
