About the role#
This internship is part of the Future Talent Program within the Translational Sciences and Outsourcing team. You will work within the Pharmacokinetics, Dynamics, Metabolism, and Bioanalytics department to develop and benchmark AI and machine learning methods for pharmacokinetic curve prediction. This 12-week project focuses on applying computational methods to large-scale pharmaceutical data to support drug discovery and development decisions. You will work toward a reproducible benchmark study with the potential for a manuscript or technical report.
What you'll do#
- Analyze large-scale pharmacokinetic and molecular datasets and prepare them for modeling.
- Implement and benchmark classical machine learning baselines, molecular-structure-based models, and time-series or mechanism-informed approaches.
- Design and compare various evaluation settings, including random, scaffold, time-based, and chemical-similarity-aware approaches.
- Quantify model performance across compound novelty levels to identify data leakage and generalization limitations.
- Collaborate with scientists to interpret results and ensure benchmark conclusions are meaningful.
- Document methods and results, contribute to a draft manuscript, and present outcomes at an intern symposium.
What you'll need#
- Current PhD student in computational chemistry, cheminformatics, machine learning, computer science, computational biology, statistics, or a related field.
- A strong record of publication in top-tier, peer-reviewed scientific journals or machine learning conferences.
- Strong Python programming skills, including experience with machine learning or deep learning frameworks like PyTorch.
- Experience with model development, evaluation, and building reproducible analysis pipelines.
- Ability to work with complex scientific datasets and understand the impact of data leakage on model generalization.
- Strong communication skills and the ability to clearly interpret technical results.
Location & details#
- Location: South San Francisco, California, United States.
- Term: Summer 2027.
- Modality: On-site.
- Employment: Full-time internship.
- Compensation: This position is paid.
About MSD
MSD is a pharmaceutical manufacturing company founded in 1891. It develops medicines and vaccines for both humans and animals. The organization operates globally and maintains its headquarters in Rahway, New Jersey. It employs over 39,000 people.
How to get in at MSD
Applying to MSD early provides a distinct advantage because recruiters often review the first wave of candidates before the applicant pool becomes unmanageable. Intern Insider sends an instant alert the moment a role matching your target is published anywhere, so you apply among the first and get seen before the pile grows. Reaching out to the right person can help your application stand out from the crowd. Intern Insider surfaces the recruiters behind the company roles so you can reach out directly to ask about the position or a referral, which materially improves your response rates.
