Future Talent Program – Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics Co‑op

About the role

The Future Talent Program offers a 6‑month co‑op in Merck's Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics (DMPK) group, supporting oncology drug discovery. You will work with state‑of‑the‑art LC‑HRMS and computational tools to study the stability, biotransformation, and catabolism of antibody‑drug and peptide‑drug conjugates.

Key responsibilities

• Perform in‑vitro assays to investigate ADC and PDC biotransformation and catabolism.
• Analyze LC‑HRMS data to identify and characterize drug‑conjugate catabolites.
• Support development of automated data‑processing, visualization, and reporting tools.
• Prepare technical summaries, presentations, and deliver a final project symposium.

Required profile

• Currently pursuing a Master’s or Ph.D. in analytical chemistry, pharmaceutical sciences, chemical biology, immunology, biochemistry, biotechnology, biology, data science, or a related discipline.
• Strong analytical, critical‑thinking and problem‑solving abilities.
• Effective verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively.

Required skills

• Experience with high‑resolution mass spectrometry (LC‑HRMS) and data analysis.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel for data analysis and visualization.
• Familiarity with mass‑spectrometry data‑processing tools.
• Basic knowledge of Python, R, or similar analytical programming languages (optional).
• Understanding of PK/ADME or drug‑discovery concepts (preferred).