Associate Project Director - Global Drug Discovery

About the Department 

Our US Research & Development hub, located in the Greater Boston area, brings together the best talent to drive life ‎science innovation. Located in Lexington, Watertown and Cambridge, our teams reflect the full scope of R&D, from early ‎research through late-stage clinical development. We are building for the future by creating a distinct R&D community ‎based on collaboration, partnerships, and cutting-edge research across multiple modalities and therapeutic areas. We ‎recognize that improving human health starts here and that patients rely on us. By combining the speed and agility of ‎biotech with the quality, resources, and stability of a large pharmaceutical company, our US R&D hub will benefit from the ‎best of both worlds to develop new medicines that meet the needs of patients. ‎

 

The Position

Global Drug Discovery (GDD) is establishing a dedicated microphysiological systems (MPS) department in Watertown with ‎the purpose of identifying and integrating the next generation of human disease models into our drug discovery efforts ‎within cardiometabolic disease. The department will be anchored in the Integrated Physiology Research area and will have ‎strong integration with the biology areas across GDD.  ‎

 

The Associate Project Director will be part of a highly ambitious multidisciplinary team dedicated to setting up and implementing ‎human cell-based disease relevant MPS platforms to support validation and progression of early drug candidates. The ‎position will report to the Head of the MPS. Working closely with the cardiometabolic therapeutic areas across Research & ‎Early Development (R&ED) organization the individual will lead the organ-specific disease model development efforts with ‎the initial focus of developing multicellular cardiometabolic disease models. In addition, the Ass. Project Director will help ‎establish this new unit by setting scientific direction and utilizing its strong international network. The individual will drive ‎the in vitro technology development in multidisciplinary teams, guiding junior scientists, and working closely with the ‎external partners on specific model development projects. The Ass. Project Director will help set scientific direction and ‎help shape the growing department.‎

 

Relationships

The Associate Project Director will report to the head of the Microphysiological Systems (MPS) department at Novo Nordisk in ‎Greater Boston ‎

 

Internal relationships include working closely with scientists within the MPS department as well as with the head of MPS. ‎Moreover, the individual will work with scientists within the cardiometabolic therapeutic areas across the global Research & ‎Early Development (R&ED) organization, with project managers, and with Therapy Area Heads. ‎

 

The Associate Project Director will have significant interaction with potential external research collaborators both academia- & ‎industry.‎

 

Essential Functions

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• Conduct a comprehensive analysis of commercially available microphysiological systems for studying obesity and ‎cardiometabolic diseases.‎
• Identify and evaluate potential academic and/or industry partners with expertise in in vitro systems to understand the ‎value propositions of different microphysiological systems and their relevance to Novo Nordisk's strategic goals.‎
• Assess the feasibility of utilizing individual organ-specific microphysiological systems for research and development ‎purposes.‎
• Provide strategic recommendations based on the analysis of the external landscape and academic partnerships to ‎support the department's objectives.‎
• Drive and lead external collaborations with an emphasis on merging the internal (Novo) capabilities in biology and ‎disease