Research Fellow - Data Science and Artificial Intelligence

A postdoctoral research fellow position is available at the Cancer Data Science Lab (PI: Dr. Irbaz Riaz - Dr. Irbaz B. Riaz, Bio) at Mayo Clinic in Arizona. The research fellow will work in a multi-disciplinary team of clinicians, data scientists and informaticians.

Dr. Riaz is an Assistant professor in medicine and biomedical informatics. His lab is focused on developing artificial intelligence (AI) methods for electronic medical records data. The current projects heavily emphasize natural language processing (NLP), large language models (LLMs), multi-modal data integration, and computation oncology.  

This position (candidate) may engage in following projects: 

• Training and implementation of large language models that demonstrate good performance with healthcare data.
• Utilize artificial intelligence techniques, including natural language processing such as large language models, computer vision and other deep learning methods, to build task-specific models for diverse applications in healthcare.
• Develop artificial intelligence frameworks for data extraction from free-text unstructured text reports and imaging/histopathological imaging data.
• Develop and/or improve predictive models using uni-modal and multimodal electronic health records system data (free text, imaging, genomics)
• Develop/enhance software for living clinical practice guidelines.
• Work with a multi-disciplinary team of physicians, computer scientists, and biomedical statisticians to improve artificial intelligence-based approaches for solving complex data science problems in cancer. 
• Harbor excellent verbal- and written- communication and presentation skills.

A Research Fellow at Mayo Clinic is a temporary position intended to provide training and education in research. Individuals will train in the research program of a Mayo Clinic principal investigator. Qualified individuals will demonstrate the potential for research as evidenced by their training and peer-reviewed publications and should become competitive for national research grants. Proof of English proficiency is required for J-1 Short-Term Scholars, Research Scholars, Professors, Specialists, and Student Interns sponsored by Mayo Clinic.

Basic Qualifications (Must Have)

• Ph.D. in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Biomedical Informatics, Data Science, Biostatistics, or a closely related field determined by the program. Candidates must have completed their Ph.D. at the time of hire.
• Strong foundation in machine learning and artificial intelligence.
• Excellent Python programming skills; experience with common data analysis libraries (e.g., pandas, NumPy, scikit-learn) and at least one deep learning framework (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, JAX, HuggingFace).
• Familiarity with SQL databases and basic querying skills.
• Familiarity with natural language processing techniques and/or large language models.
• Experience working with structured or unstructured data, including text data.
• Evidence of research potential, such as peer-reviewed publications or conference presentations.
• Good written and verbal communication skills in English.

Preferred Qualifications (Nice to Have)

• Experience with multi-modal data (text, imaging, genomics).
• Familiarity with computer vision methods for medical imaging.
• Exposure to modern AI technologies, including fine-tuning or retrieval-augmented models (RAG).
• Familiarity with evaluating large language models.
• Experience with version control (e.g., Git) or basic software development practices.
• Interest in clinical or healthcare-related research applications.
• Experience collaborating in multi-disciplinary research teams.

Why Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is top-ranked in more specialties than any other care provider according to U.S. News & World Report. As we work together to put the needs of the patient first, we are also dedicated to our employees, investing in competitive compensation and comprehensive benefit plans – to take care of you and your family, now and in the future. And with continuing education and advancement opportunities at every turn, you can build a long, successful career with Mayo Clinic.
Benefits Highlights

• Medical: Multiple plan options.
• Dental: Delta Dental or reimbursement account for flexible coverage.
• Vision: Affordable plan with national network.
• Pre-Tax Savings: HSA and FSAs for eligible expenses.
• Retirement: Competitive retirement package to secure your future.