OptumLabs Machine Learning PhD Intern - Remote

Internships at UnitedHealth Group. If you want an intern experience that will dramatically shape your career, consider a company that’s dramatically shaping our entire health care system. UnitedHealth Group internship opportunities will provide a hands-on view of a rapidly evolving, incredibly challenging marketplace of ideas, products and services. You’ll work side by side with some of the smartest people in the business on assignments that matter. So here we are. You have a lot to learn. We have a lot to do.  It’s the perfect storm. And even better? Join us and you may end up staying for a career in which you can do your life’s best work.(sm)

OptumLabs is the research and development arm of UnitedHealth Group. We're a diverse team of curious thinkers and experts in big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and scientific and clinical research searching for new ways to help people live healthier lives. We partner with world leaders in health care delivery, research, and technology to create disruptive solutions that serve patients, caregivers, providers, and commercial and government payers.

The recently formed Machine Learning Research group at OptumLabs is expanding and seeking Research Interns for Summer 2023 who are interested in advancing the fields of artificial intelligence and machine learning and developing novel solutions that improve healthcare outcomes. We encourage individuals who are passionate about advancing the state of the art in deep learning, natural language processing, computer vision, generative models, reinforcement learning, signal processing, privacy-preserving machine learning, causal inference, computational genomics and related areas to apply. Our team, led by UCLA professor Eran Halperin, works on the state of the art machine learning in health, and has close ties to academia, including collaborations with world experts from Cornell, UCLA, NYU, and others. 

Some topics you might work on include:

• Large language model architectures for medical text
• Predicting health outcomes and quantifying uncertainty from multimodal data
• Off-policy reinforcement learning for physician recommendations
• Deep generative models for electronic healthcare records
• Mining digital signals from wearable medical devices and combining them with other data modalities

You’ll enjoy the flexibility to work remotely * from anywhere within the U.S. as you take on some tough challenges. You may (optionally) travel to attend an in person meeting to present and celebrate your work at the conclusion of the internship.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Perform research which advances the state of the art in AI and ML
• Implement algorithms and evaluate their performance on healthcare data
• Communicate results across an interdisciplinary team and explore use cases which improve real world healthcare outcomes
• Document research internally and externally, including publications in machine learning and other scientific conferences and journals

You’ll be rewarded and recognized for your performance in an environment that will challenge you and give you clear direction on what it takes to succeed in your role as well as provide development for other roles you may be interested in.

Required Qualifications:

• Currently is in the process of obtaining a PhD degree in machine learning, computer science, statistics, biomedical informatics or a related field
• Hands-on experience in implementing and training machine learning algorithms or statistical analysis
• Deep understanding of the mathematical foundations of machine learning
• Programming competence in Python, R, Java, C , Matlab or another modern programming language. Familiarity / Expertise in various deep learning frameworks like PyTorch, Tensorflow etc.
• Must be authorized to work in the United States (F-1 students with practical training and candidates requiring H-1Bs, TNs, etc. are considered)
• Full COVID-19 vaccination is an essential job function of this role. Candidates located in states that mandate COVID-19 booster doses must also comply with those state requirements. UnitedHealth Group will adhere to all federal, state and local regulations as well as all client requirements and will obtain necessary proof of vaccination, and boosters when applicable, prior to employment to ensure compliance. Candidates must be able to perform all essential job functions with or without reasonable accommodation

Preferred Qualifications:

• First author publications in NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, AISTATS, UAI, AAAI, KDD, CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, ACL or other computer science conferences or medical journals
• Will be completing PhD degree within 1-2 years
• Experience working in an interdisciplinary environment, particularly across engineering and medicine
• Knowledge and experience working with genomic data, wearables or with medical records data
• Software tool development experience: source control (git), packaging, documentation
• Solid spoken and written communication skills 
• Demonstrated ability to work in a team

We Lead with Diversity, Inclusion and Compassion

At OptumLabs, we are dedicated to building teams where every individual is recognized for their unique experience and contributions. Our Leadership Principles underscore our commitment to inclusion, encouraging us to “walk in each other’s shoes” and open doors for our peers.

We Invest in Talent

Managers at every level are committed to their roles as talent stewards who help guide and nurture professional development. We want our employees to reach their highest level of potential just as they help us reach ours. Join OptumLabs and you’ll be part of a culture that prizes innovation and works with uncompromising integrity.

At OptumLabs, employees are our first customers. That’s why we offer virtual work environments – to provide work/life flexibility via telecommuting. While it can be a struggle to be a telecommuter, it can also provide enormous benefits for your personal and professional life.

To protect the health and safety of our workforce, patients and communities we serve, UnitedHealth Group and its affiliate companies require all employees to disclose COVID-19 vaccination status prior to beginning employment. In addition, some roles and locations require full COVID-19 vaccination, including boosters, as an essential job function. UnitedHealth Group adheres to all federal, state and local COVID-19 vaccination regulations as well as all client COVID-19 vaccination requirements and will obtain the necessary information from candidates prior to employment to ensure compliance. Candidates must be able to perform all essential job functions with or without reasonable accommodation. Failure to meet the vaccination requirement may result in rescission of an employment offer or termination of employment

Internships at Optum. If you want an intern experience that will dramatically shape your career, consider a company that’s dramatically shaping our entire health care system. Optum, part of the UnitedHealth Group family of companies, is a leading health services and innovation company dedicated to helping make the health system work better for everyone. With more than 94,000 people collaborating worldwide, Optum combines people, technology, data and action to improve the delivery, quality and efficiency of health care. Our internship opportunities provide a view of a rapidly evolving, incredibly challenging marketplace of ideas, products and services. Here, you’ll work with some of the smartest people in the business on assignments that matter. Join us and you may end up staying for a career in which you can do your life’s best work.(sm)

Colorado, Connecticut, Nevada, or New York City Residents Only: The hourly range for residents is $46.78 to $85.05. Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to education, work experience, certifications, etc. In addition to your salary, UnitedHealth Group offers benefits such as, a comprehensive benefits package, incentive and recognition programs, equity stock purchase and 401k contribution (all benefits are subject to eligibility requirements). No matter where or when you begin a career with UnitedHealth Group, you’ll find a far-reaching choice of benefits and incentives.

*All employees working remotely will be required to adhere to UnitedHealth Group’s Telecommuter Policy

Diversity creates a healthier atmosphere: UnitedHealth Group is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.

UnitedHealth Group is a drug-free workplace. Candidates are required to pass a drug test before beginning employment.