Computational Drug Repurposing: Treatment Recommendations, Drug Combinations, Drug Target, Disease Links, and Side Effects

Sano Postdoc

Give us a chance to meet you

Sano Centre for Computational Medicine is a new International Scientific Foundation located in Kraków, Poland.

Sano aspires to be a major translational scientific institute, operating at the meeting point of academic science, established MedTech industry, and emerging start-up environment, combining the best of these three perspectives.

Sano acts as a core technology and expertise provider for industry, and creator of innovation, developing state-of-the-art solutions for healthcare. Thanks to the substantial funding and excellent European partnership network, Sano will bring a critical mass to this transformational field of research, in order to translate scientific advancements onto clinical practice. Sano’s ambition is to become the Reference Centre for Computational Medicine in Central Europe and build a reputation as a leading institute on a global level.

As a cross-disciplinary institution, Sano uses machine learning/artificial intelligence (ML/AI), large scale computer simulations (HPC), data science, and other computational technologies towards overcoming global challenges in healthcare systems. The research agenda will be executed in close collaboration with Partners in Poland, EU and USA.

We value:

Passion – Passion in what we do, engagement in Sano operations, taking responsibility, providing initiative, being happy at work.
Innovation – Boldness in articulating and pursuing novel ideas, courage to think outside the box.
Integrity – Directness, openness, tolerance and respect. Scientific integrity (we do not cut corners).
Diversity – Diversity in backgrounds, cultures and opinions of Sano employees. Promotion of women in STEM.

Project title: Computational Drug Repurposing: Treatment Recommendations, Drug Combinations, Drug Target, Disease Links, and Side Effects
Closing date: 20.07.2022
Level of education: PhD
Hours: 40 hours per week
Salary indication: up to 14000 PLN gross monthly
Project start: in 2022 (July at the earliest)

Sano: Dr. Ahmed Abdeen Hamed (Clinical Data Science collab between student and postdoc Leader)

Computational Drug Repurposing is a rich area of research that has become extremely important during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Due to the novelty of the disease and the unavailability of vaccines, global efforts turned into already FDA-approved drugs for investigate for candidate treatment.

Our efforts specifically focused on analyzing the Biomedical literature that is publicly available in PubMed Central. We used means of text analysis, ontology term extraction, network models and algorithms to identify drug candidates and rank them. The results were validated from relevant data collected from clinical trials records. Our research also observed the possibility of drugs being combined to achieve a treatment. The full description of such discoveries is published in the JMIR and Pharmaceutics journals.

This project strives to understand how news drugs combinations and whether they may interfere with other drugs that are prescribed for patients that suffer preexisting conditions. This mandates the incorporation of new drugs side effects dataset, ontology, specialized databases in drug-drug interaction. This project aims at the development of a wider family of drugs combinations not only related to COVID-19 but other diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Cancer.

The main activities planned within this project involve the following:

Ontology-based Information Extraction of PubMed and clinical trials
Text analysis and mining
Network construction, analysis, community detection
The design of novel algorithms and computational methods
Integration with multi-omics data sources (e.g., PubChem)
Proficiency in Python programming and Jupiter notebook and others (Julia, R)
Comfortable level of working with graph databases (Neo4J)

This project is planned as a collaboration between PhD Student (post already fulfilled) and a Postdoctoral Researcher.

You are expected to:

do original research under the direction of one of Research Group Leaders;
publish your work in peer-review journals and present during national and international conferences;
co-mentor junior scientists – PhD students and MSc students.

Required background and skills of the candidate:

recent or pending PhD in relevant field, preferably computer science;
at least one first-author research publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, top conference or currently in press;
excellent written and oral English communication skills;

We offer a fixed term contract for 40 hours per week. This will be supported by an educational plan that includes attendance of courses and (international) meetings. The contract will include opportunities to participate in teaching and supervision of undergraduate and master students.

The salary, depending on relevant experience before the beginning of the employment contract, will be up to 14000 PLN gross per month, based on a full-time contract (40 hours a week) for the duration of 2 years with private medical care and a sports card.

Sano offers excellent opportunities for study and development, an access to many international conferences on computational medicine and a possibility to grow in a scientific society.

If you feel that this job opportunity is the career that you are looking for, please apply immediately and give Sano a chance to meet you. Please, be informed that Sano will contact only with Candidates fulfilling the formal criteria.

Sano is an equal-opportunity employer. We prioritize diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for everyone. We value a spirit of enquiry and perseverance, provide the space to keep asking questions, and promote a culture of curiosity and creativity.

Do you recognize yourself in the job profile? Then we look forward to receiving your application.

Applications in .pdf should include:

a cover letter;
a curriculum vitae;

Sano Postdoc