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2023 QP2 Automation & Standardization of Pharmacometrics Workflows Co-op

The Future Talent Program features Cooperative (Co-op) education that lasts up to 6 months and will include one or more projects. These opportunities in our Research & Development Division can provide you with great development and a chance to see if we are the right company for your long-term goals.

The Company's Research Lab’s Quantitative Pharmacology & Pharmacometrics (QP2) group within the Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics and Drug Metabolism department is seeking a 2023 Coop student. The Quantitative Pharmacology and Pharmacometrics (QP2) group provide pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic analysis and modeling and simulation support to enable decisions and accelerate our Research programs across the pipeline in Discovery and Preclinical Sciences, Early Development, and Late-Stage development, including product value enhancement. The Co-op will work closely with a QP2 staff mentor to develop and apply quantitative mathematical, physiologic, pharmacologic or statistical models and simulations to support ongoing projects and/or to contribute to the development and implementation of new capabilities, standards, and approaches. 

Pharmacometrics modeling and simulations have become a routine analysis to support internal decision making and regulatory submission. The workflow requires standardization for data analysis plan, data assembling, graphic visualization of data, modeling, simulation, and reporting. Appropriate workflow and automation will significantly streamline the analysis processes to maximize the productivity of pharmacometricians. Quantitative Systems Pharmacology Workbench (QSPWB) is a web-based tool for modeling developed and maintained by collaboration between QP2 and IT. It's two main functions are to act as a central repository for modeling files and to serve as a graphical user interface for NONMEM. In addition, the R shiny package has been used both widely in the pharmacometrics community and internally at company QP2 to build interactive tools for automation and standardization. These tools have played critical roles in the everyday modeling activities at QP2.

The objective of this work is to develop extensions of our existing QSPWB platform and/or standalone R Shiny apps or codes to automate and standardize common PmX workflows, including but not limited to: model diagnostic plots, stepwise covariate modeling, covariate selection using Machine Learning, objective function mapping, simulations with uncertainties, etc. Because of the multifaceted nature of the project, it will provide to the intern an opportunity to learn key components of pharmacometrics modeling and simulations, to enhance technical skills in programming and platform development, and potentially to build inter-department collaborations with Biostatistics and Research Decision Sciences (BARDS) and IT. Results from this project will enhance our infrastructure to maximize the productivity of pharmacometricians. There could also be opportunity to contribute to publications in scientific journals as well scientific conference proceedings.

Locations: West Point, PA

Required Education & Experience:

  • Candidates must be available to work full-time for up to (6) consecutive months beginning in May or June of 2023.
  • Candidates must have completed at least (2) years of studies toward bachelor’s degree by June 2023.
  • Candidates must be a currently enrolled undergraduate sophomore, junior, or senior student pursuing a bachelor’s degree OR enrolled in a PhD or MS degree program in Pharmacometrics, Clinical Pharmacology, Clinical PK/PD, Mathematics, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Statistics, Bioengineering, Chemical Engineering, Computer Science or related areas.
  • Candidates must have strong communication skills
  • Candidates must be a strong team player and have the ability to work in a multi-functional environment
  • Candidates must be eligible to work in U.S. on a full-time basis.

Preferred Experience & Skills:

  • Candidates should strong written and oral communication skills
  • Candidates should be working towards an undergraduate or graduate degree in biology, engineering or quantitative pharmaceutical science discipline (e.g. computational science, clinical pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, pharmacometrics).
  • Candidates should have experience in data processing and visualization approaches and coding (e.g. R)
  •  Candidates should have experience with NONMEM and R-Shiny preferred
  • Candidates should have strong written and oral communication skills, and the ability to communicate results
  • Candidates should have a GPA of 3.0 or higher

We are a research-driven biopharmaceutical company. Our mission is built on the simple premise that if we “follow the science” that great medicines can make a significant impact to our world. We believe that a research-driven enterprise dedicated to world-class science can succeed by inventing medicine and vaccine innovations that make a difference for patients across the globe. 

Who we are …
We are known as Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, New Jersey, USA in the United States and Canada and MSD everywhere else. For more than a century, we have been inventing for life, bringing forward medicines and vaccines for many of the world's most challenging diseases. Today, our company continues to be at the forefront of research to deliver innovative health solutions and advance the prevention and treatment of diseases that threaten people and animals around the world.

What we look for …
Imagine getting up in the morning for a job as important as helping to save and improve lives around the world. Here, you have that opportunity. You can put your empathy, creativity, digital mastery, or scientific genius to work in collaboration with a diverse group of colleagues who pursue and bring hope to countless people who are battling some of the most challenging diseases of our time. Our team is constantly evolving, so if you are among the intellectually curious, join us—and start making your impact today.