Sponsor

Michael J. Fox Foundation and Weston Brain Institute

Program

Computational Science Fellowship

Description

The Michael J. Fox Foundation and Weston Brain Institute Computational Science Fellowship program is a collaboration between the two organizations with the goal of supporting research that will apply sophisticated computational approaches and expertise to advance therapeutic development for neurodegenerative diseases of aging. 

Projects must support development of a therapeutic and/or tool to accelerate therapeutic development, i.e. Computer modeling to uncover new biomarkers, or select therapeutic candidates; Use of longitudinal, multi-modal open data to identify or validate disease progression models or factors that influence complex clinical outcomes (e.g., rates and disease subtypes).

Expected deliverables should include computational tools, models and/or knowledge derived from application of computational tools that will accelerate therapeutic development for neurodegenerative diseases of aging. The fellows awarded through this program will form a collaborative community to share ideas, methods and lessons learned in virtual and in-person meetings throughout the award period. The fellows will, for instance, have the opportunity to connect with current U.S.-based Michael J. Fox Foundation Computational Science fellows to share learnings and expertise. Principal investigators and fellows can also collaborate with Drs. Mike Nalls and Andrew Singleton, experts in Parkinson’s disease who have an established Michael J. Fox Foundation Computational Science Fellow award, for technical mentorship and domain expertise in Parkinson’s disease. In addition, fellows will have opportunities to speak at Foundation or Institute events to promote applying computational science tools and approaches to biomedical research.

Eligibility

Principal investigators from the Toronto or Montreal area with an interest in computional analyses and neurodegenerative diseases of aging are welcomed to apply. Principal investigators must hold a position at or above the level of Assistant professor at a CRA qualified donee institution in Canada.

Prior knowledge of neurodegenerative diseases of aging is not required for the fellowship, yet comfort with biomedical data is strongly preferred.

Preferred backgrounds include:

• Ph.D. in computational modeling, statistics, computer science, biostatistics, data science, bioinformatics, computational biology or related area
• Interest in biomedical data on neurodegenerative diseases of aging
• Demonstrated fluency in programming languages (R, Python, Matlab, SAS, etc)

Successful awardees will be expected to recruit and hire a fellow within approximately three months of award notification (though the selected fellow can be part of the application, if known).  

Maximum Project Value

Two 18-month fellowships of $150,000 (US dollar) each for salary support and benefits will be provided for the fellow working in the lab of the awarded researcher. Travel expenses to Foundation or Institution-sponsored events will be provided by the Foundation

Attachment(s)

Attachment	Size
Request for Applications - MJFF/WBI [4]	293.88 KB
Proposal Template & Instructions [5]	563.95 KB