Head of Neuro-Informatics and Clinical Biomarkers Program

The Neurological Institute is recruiting a Head of Neuroinformatics and Clinical Biomarkers for the Cleveland Clinic Brain Study (CCBS). CCBS — the largest prospective hypercharacterized clinical study ever for brain diseases — will collect data from thousands of neurologically healthy individuals over a 20-year period to identify brain disease biomarkers and novel targets for preventing and curing neurological disorders. The population-based longitudinal study is an enterprise-wide undertaking, enlisting Neurological Institute colleagues across Cleveland Clinic’s global health system.

The study launched at Cleveland Clinic’s main campus in Cleveland in January 2022 and will expand to additional Cleveland Clinic sites over time. In the study’s first five years, researchers will enroll 10,000 volunteers who will be thoroughly investigated. Volunteers will be adults 50 years or older with no known neurological disorder or neurologically healthy adults age 20 or older who have a first-degree relative diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The Neurological Institute already houses a large and exponentially growing biomarker research program, leveraging data from our patient populations with Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, multiple sclerosis, and epilepsy. This experience positions the Institute well to advance the ambitious CCBS project.

The Head of Neuro-Informatics and Clinical Biomarkers program must be an accomplished researcher committed to translational molecular biomarker research in one or more neurological disorders. The candidate will leverage the CCBS data and resources and lead it in new translational directions and biomarker-based patient stratification for next-generation clinical trials. The candidate is expected to develop a cutting-edge clinical research platform that will enable our physician-scientists to jointly analyze high-dimensional OMICS and clinical data streaming from the CCBS. This platform will also allow the seamless selection of patients for personalized medicine-based clinical trials. Candidates will need a strong foundation and experience in research IT, bio-informatics and the development of physician-friendly research software platforms. In addition to this role, the candidate is expected to actively participate in a diverse translational research program ranging from data science, software development, or bioinformatics to hypercharacterize one or more neurological disorders. The successful candidate will have deep scientific knowledge and experience with genomic or other OMIC biomarker data and the combined analysis with clinical biomarkers of neurological disorders using advanced machine learning techniques. The candidate will collaborate with multiple functional teams, including research and clinical development, to ensure that the clinical biomarker strategy is effectively implemented with timely delivery of results. A track record of collaboration and teamwork is critical.

Essential Duties and Job Functions:

• Lead cross a functional team that includes neurologists, neurosurgeons, psychiatrists, rehabilitation clinicians, neuropsychologists, psychologists, software developers, engineers, statisticians, molecular scientists, and research coordinators responsible for discrete projects within the CCBS with focus on biomedical data science and translational science areas to improve the care of neurological disorders. Initiate large-scale research projects focusing on clinical and molecular (OMIC data) hyper characterization of neurological disorders and drive them to completion, resulting in high-quality publications, extramural funding, and clinical trials of biomarker-defined patient populations. Support the execution of CCBS-based biomedical data research projects through facilitation of high-dimensional OMICS data analysis and clinical variables to test and discover surrogate or mechanistic disease biomarkers. Develop data quality control and analysis pipelines for genomic and other OMIC biomarkers. Support the leadership of the CCBS and the Neurological Institute in strategic decisions related to molecular biomarkers, IT infrastructure, and data science. Collaborate with discovery and pre-clinical neuroscientists, engineers, and clinical scientists to translate clinical biomarker research into the mechanism of action studies. Provide workshops for physician-scientists to teach the development of algorithms that enable data-driven care decisions. 

Qualifications

• Advanced graduate degree (e.g., MD, MD-PhD, PhD, PharmD) required.  Proven leadership of interdisciplinary teams consisting of data scientists, biologists, and neurologists is required.  A strong academic track record with studies focusing on leading molecular biomarkers (e.g., genomics, proteomics, etc.). Strong knowledge about quality control and statistical analysis of genomic or other OMIC data is required. Strong knowledge of distributed computing with high-performance computers or cloud environments using the following coding languages: Python, R, Perl, or shell scripting is required. A strong understanding of database development and tools, including SQL, Oracle, and Data Warehousing, is required. A strong understanding of electronic healthcare record based quantitative research. Track record of large-scale extramural funding. Strong knowledge of modern web applications, including HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, Java, C#, ASP.NET, .NET Core, Dash, R-Shiny or Angular, is required. Experience in the discovery, characterization, and validation of innovative biomarkers that inform targets and biological pathways is required.  Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively with basic neuroscience researchers, medicinal chemists, and patient advocacy groups. International experience is a plus.

Interested parties please click here to: apply online
Please include an up-to-date CV and cover letter with your application