Summer Intern – Pharmacogenomics Data Science & Genomic Prediction (VMRD)

Kalamazoo - Downtown Portage Street

PHARMACOGENOMICS DATA SCIENCE & GENOMIC PREDICTION INTERN Location: Kalamazoo, MI

Internship Summary: Zoetis Precision Animal Health - Veterinary Medicine Research & Development (PAH VMRD) is seeking a summer intern to support a pharmacogenomic project, a novel platform exploring how genetic variation influences treatment response in livestock. The intern will work directly with the project team lead to mine and integrate dairy cattle health and treatment datasets, define treatment response phenotypes for mastitis, and develop proof-of-concept genomic prediction models contributing to a first-of-its-kind pharmacogenomic decision support system for animal health.

Internship Job Duties

• Extract, clean, and integrate clinical treatment records and health event data from dairy herd management systems (e.g., Dairy Comp 305) and link with existing genotype data to build analysis-ready datasets.
• Define and construct treatment response phenotypes for mastitis/ bovine respiratory disease, including clinical cure, bacteriological cure, relapse, recurrence.
• Evaluate existing SNP panel and sequence data to identify DNA markers and candidate genomic regions with potential predictive value for mastitis/bovine respiratory disease treatment outcomes.
• Develop and test proof-of-concept genomic prediction models (e.g., GBLUP, BayesR, or machine learning approaches) for treatment response traits, including preliminary accuracy and heritability estimates.

Internship Qualifications

• Currently enrolled in a Master's or PhD program in Animal Science, Quantitative Genetics, Animal Breeding & Genomics, Bioinformatics, or a closely related field.
• Experience with genomic data analysis, including GWAS, genomic prediction, and/or variance component estimation using mixed models.
• Proficiency in at least one programming or statistical environment (R, Python, SAS, or equivalent) for large-scale data manipulation and analysis.
• Familiarity with livestock health data, dairy herd management systems, or genomic selection concepts is strongly preferred.
• Strong analytical and communication skills, with the ability to work independently and present results to a cross-functional team.

The following hourly pay rates reflect the anticipated base pay for this position

If the selected candidate is a student pursuing an Associate-level degree: $16.00 per hour

If the selected candidate is a student pursuing an Undergraduate-level degree: $22.00 per hour

If the selected candidate is a student pursing a Graduate-level degree: $32.50 per hour

If the selected candidate is a student pursuing a Doctorate-level degree: $36.00 per hour

The following hourly pay rates reflect the anticipated base pay for this position if a selected candidate were to be located in California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois (Chicago area), Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Washington (Seattle area)

Student pursuing an Associate-level degree: $17.00 per hour

Student pursuing an Undergraduate-level degree: $24.20 per hour

Student pursing a Graduate-level degree: $36.40 per hour

Student pursuing a Doctorate-level degree: $40.30 per hour

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Zoetis is an EEO/Affirmative Action Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability or any other legally protected status.