Research Associate - AI Simulations Scientist

1w1 week ago

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Oak Ridge, US · Full-time · $85,000 – $115,000

About this role

As a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science national laboratory, ORNL has an impressive 80-year legacy of addressing the nation’s most pressing challenges. Our team comprises over 7,000 dedicated and innovative individuals. We create an environment where a variety of perspectives and backgrounds are valued, making ORNL a top choice for employment.

This role involves developing and validating Virtual Clinical Trial (VCT) frameworks to simulate patient populations and evaluate radiopharmaceutical interventions and imaging protocols. You will integrate AI/ML techniques with Monte Carlo simulations like Geant4 and MCNP to accelerate radiation transport and image reconstruction. Optimize computational medicine codes for leadership-class HPC architectures to enable high-throughput simulations.

Collaborate across interdisciplinary teams spanning nuclear medicine, radiology, oncology, and computational physics. These principles support our mission to drive scientific breakthroughs and translate them into solutions for energy, environmental, and security challenges. Excellent communication skills ensure effective interdisciplinary collaboration.

Publish findings in high-impact journals and present at leading clinical and computational conferences. Demonstrate ability to conduct independent research with a strong publication record. Obtain research funding from sources like DOE, NIH, DoD, or industrial partnerships.

Requirements

Ph.D. (within 0–5 years) in Medical Physics, Nuclear Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, or a related computational field.
Strong programming skills in C++, Python, or similar languages relevant to scientific modeling and image processing.
Extensive experience with one or more of the following codes (or similar): Monte Carlo radiation transport codes (e.g., Geant4, GATE, TOPAS), DNA damage and repair modeling (MEDRAS), multicellular modes (Compucell, Physicell).
Experience working on High-Performance Computing (HPC) systems for large-scale data analysis or complex simulations.
Demonstrated ability to conduct independent research with a strong publication record in medical imaging and/or radiotherapy.
Demonstrated ability to obtain research funding (e.g., DOE, NIH, DoD, or industrial partnerships).
Excellent written and verbal communication skills for effective interdisciplinary collaboration.
Commitment to ORNL’s core values: Impact, Integrity, Teamwork, Safety, and Service.

Responsibilities

Develop and validate Virtual Clinical Trial (VCT) frameworks to simulate patient populations and evaluate the efficacy of radiopharmaceutical interventions and imaging protocols.
Integrate AI/ML techniques with Monte Carlo simulations (e.g., Geant4, MCNP) to accelerate radiation transport calculations and image reconstruction workflows.
Optimize computational medicine codes for leadership-class HPC architectures to enable high-throughput population-scale simulations.
Collaborate across interdisciplinary teams spanning nuclear medicine, radiology, oncology, and computational physics.
Publish findings in high-impact journals and present at leading clinical and computational conferences.