Statistical/Population Geneticist — Immunology Research

American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy; Indianapolis, Northern (IN, KY); Hybrid; USD 153,000 - 246,000; Full time

Job summary

Lilly seeks a seasoned statistical geneticist to strengthen target identification by applying Mendelian randomization, GWAS interpretation, and multi-omic integration across the immunology pipeline. You will collaborate with target discovery, translational medicine, and bioinformatics teams to prioritize therapeutic targets with strong human causal evidence.

The role sits at the interface of human genetics, translational biology, and drug development strategy, with leadership in evaluating

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in statistical genetics, population genetics, genetic epidemiology, biostatistics, computational biology, or a related quantitative field.
• Demonstrated experience working on large-scale population datasets and causal inference from human genetic datasets.
• Strong proficiency in R, ideally with tidyverse workflows; comfort with version control (Git).

Responsibilities

• Lead systematic genetic evidence reviews for immunology drug targets using GWAS, exome/genome sequencing, and rare-variant data.
• Build and maintain target evaluation frameworks that score genetic evidence and development-stage relevance.
• Interrogate data from Open Targets, GWAS Catalog, UK Biobank, FinnGen to support go/no-go decisions.
• Propose novel drug targets with strong human causal evidence for autoimmune diseases.
• Communicate genetic and statistical findings clearly to interdisciplinary teams.

Skills

Mendelian randomization

GWAS interpretation

Causal inference

Data synthesis

Education

Ph.D. in statistical genetics or related field

Tools

R (tidyverse)

Git

PLINK

Job description

At Lilly, the work is demanding because patients are waiting. We unite caring with discovery to help make life better for people around the world, knowing that every decision, every detail, and every day matters. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, our over 50,000 employees around the globe take on complex challenges to discover and deliver life-changing medicines, strengthen how health is understood and managed, and support the communities we serve. This is hard, urgent, selfless work—but it’s work worth doing. If you’re driven by purpose and ready to bring your best to work that truly matters for patients, we invite you to join us.

Function: Immunology Informatics / Human Genetics

Location: Indy or Boston

About the Role

The Immunology Informatics team integrates human genetics into drug discovery and development across the autoimmune disease spectrum (rheumatology, gastroenterology, and dermatology). We are seeking a statistical or population geneticist to strengthen our target identification and validation efforts by applying rigorous quantitative genetics methods — including Mendelian randomization, GWAS interpretation, fine mapping co-localization, and multi-omic integration — to identify, prioritize and de-risk therapeutic targets across the immunology pipeline.

This role sits at the interface of human genetics, translational biology, and drug development strategy, working closely with target discovery, translational medicine, statistical, and bioinformatics colleagues, as well as external partners.

What You'll Do

Target Evaluation & Genetic Evidence Assessment

• Lead systematic genetic evidence reviews for existing and emerging immunology drug targets, synthesizing GWAS, exome/whole-genome sequencing, and rare-variant data to assess causal support and directionality (loss-of-function vs. gain-of-function phenotype concordance with therapeutic hypothesis).
• Build and maintain target evaluation frameworks that score genetic evidence quality, effect direction, and development-stage relevance across a target portfolio.
• Interrogate and interpret summary and individual levels data from public and licensed genetic resources (e.g., Open Targets, GWAS Catalog, UK Biobank, AllofUs, FinnGen) to support go/no-go and prioritization decisions for drug targets
• Propose novel drug targets with strong human causal evidence for autoimmune diseases.
• Make decision enabling judgements on drug target quality strong scientific rationale

Population Genetics, Mendelian Randomization, Causal Inference

• Design, execute, and critically evaluate evidence from large population-scale datasets using Mendelian Randomization and other methods to test causal relationships between genetic variamts, biomarkers/proteins and immune-mediated disease outcomes.
• Assess genetic instrument validity for Mendelian Randomization, pleiotropy, and sensitivity of MR findings (e.g., MR-Egger, weighted median, colocalization) and communicate limitations clearly to immunologists.
• Collaborate with external genetics partners and academic collaborators on specific genetics programs.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Communication

• Translate complex genetic and statistical findings into clear, decision-relevant summaries for target discovery teams, translational scientists, and portfolio governance.
• Contribute genetics-informed input to target nomination packages, competitive intelligence, and program strategy documents.
• Represent statistical genetics perspective in cross-functional target review forums.

Required Qualifications

• Ph.D. in statistical genetics, population genetics, genetic epidemiology, biostatistics, computational biology, or a related quantitative field.
• Demonstrated experience working on large-scale population datasets, Mendelian randomization (MR) methodology and causal inference from human genetic datasets
• Strong proficiency in R, ideally within a tidyverse-based workflow; comfort with reproducible, version-controlled analysis (Git); basic knowledge of PLINK or other tools to manipulate large genotype datasets

Preferred Qualifications

• Practical experience interrogating large-scale genetics/genomics databases (e.g. UK Biobank, AllofUS, Open Targets,) and their APIs.
• Demonstrated proficiency using fine-mapping, and colocalization approaches for GWAS summary statistics to refine association signals and identify causal genetic variants.
• Ability to critically evaluate statistical/analytical pipelines for genetic analysis and communicate methodological trade-offs to interdisciplinary teams
• Experience in immunology/immune-mediated population genetics.
• Experience integrating multi-omics with genetics data, including pQTL or eqTL analysis.
• Familiarity with drug target identification/validation criteria and workflows in a pharmaceutical or biotech R&D setting.
• Experience collaborating with external genetics/data partners or academic consortia.

What Success Looks Like in This Role

• Providing a defensible, well-documented genetic evidence assessment that underpins target prioritization decisions across the immunology portfolio.
• Proposing novel targets within the immunology space
• Ensuring that MR and other causal-inference methods are sound, appropriately caveated, and actionable for non-specialist stakeholders.
• Establishing strong working relationships with target discovery, translational medicine, and external genetics collaborators.

Lilly is proud to be an EEO Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, religion, gender identity, sex, gender expression, sexual orientation, genetic information, ancestry, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.

Our employee resource groups (ERGs) offer strong support networks for their members and are open to all employees. Our current groups include: Africa, Middle East, Central Asia (AMECA), Black Employees at Lilly (BE@Lilly), Chinese Culture Network (CCN), EnAble, Evolve, Lilly Indian Network (LIN), Organization of Latinx at Lilly (OLA), Pride (LGBTQ+ Allies), Veterans Leadership Network (VLN) and Women’s Initiative for Leading at Lilly (WILL).

Actual compensation will depend on a candidate’s education, experience, skills, and geographic location. The anticipated wage for this position is

$153,000 - $246,400

Full-time equivalent employees also will be eligible for a company bonus (depending, in part, on company and individual performance). In addition, Lilly offers a comprehensive benefit program to eligible employees, including eligibility to participate in a company-sponsored 401(k); pension; vacation benefits; eligibility for medical, dental, vision and prescription drug benefits; flexible benefits (e.g., healthcare and/or dependent day care flexible spending accounts); life insurance and death benefits; certain time off and leave of absence benefits; and well-being benefits (e.g., employee assistance program, fitness benefits, and employee clubs and activities).Lilly reserves the right to amend, modify, or terminate its compensation and benefit programs in its sole discretion and Lilly’s compensation practices and guidelines will apply regarding the details of any promotion or transfer of Lilly employees.

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