ABOUT THE ROLE
We are seeking a highly motivated and creative AI Research Scientist to lead the development and improvement of AI models focused on oral lesion detection as part of the MeMoSA® (Mobile Mouth Screening Anywhere) project. This role is pivotal in advancing our institution’s work in medical AI and setting the foundation for building a dedicated in-house AI research team in the long term. The candidate is expected to be able to work independently but will receive support from our established collaborators from Malaysia and the UK.
SCOPE / PURPOSE OF JOB
Short-Term Objectives (Year 1–2):
- Improve and optimize existing oral lesion detection AI models using the latest deep learning and computer vision techniques
- Develop novel, bias-aware, transparent, and explainable AI approaches to improve clinical trust and applicability.
- Collaborate with dental and medical experts to ensure clinical relevance and data validity.
- Conduct experiments, analyze model performance, and produce high-quality technical documentation and research papers.
- Manage data pre-processing pipelines, annotation quality checks, and model evaluation metrics.
Long-Term Objectives:
- Support the recruitment and mentoring of junior researchers or AI engineers as we build an internal AI team.
- Propose and lead new AI research projects in healthcare beyond oral lesion detection (e.g., predictive analytics, other imaging modalities, NLP for healthcare records).
- Contribute to the design of a scalable AI research infrastructure within the institution.
Qualifications
PhD or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Biomedical Engineering, or related fields.
Experience:
- Minimum 2–3 years of hands-on experience in deep learning, preferably in medical imaging (experience with oral or dental images is a plus).
- Strong understanding of model fairness, bias mitigation, explainability (XAI), and ethical AI.
- Proficiency with deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow.
- Familiarity with tools and libraries for interpretability (e.g., SHAP, LIME, Grad-CAM).
- Track record of publications in reputable AI or medical imaging conferences/journals is highly desirable.
- Experience in leading small research or development projects is a plus.
Preferred Qualities
- Creative and independent thinker who can bring new ideas to the table.
- Passion for responsible AI development and real-world healthcare applications.
- Strong communication skills and the ability to work cross-functionally with clinicians, researchers, and software teams.
Why Join Us?
- Be at the forefront of AI innovation in healthcare with real clinical impact.
- Opportunity to shape the future of an in-house AI research unit.
- Work closely with a diverse team of clinicians, researchers, and institutional leaders.
- Access to rich clinical datasets and institutional support for high-impact research.
About the Company
Cancer Research Malaysia
We are an independent and non-profit cancer research organisation based in Malaysia. Funded by donations and research grants, we conduct research in niche cancers often found in our Asian population.
Cancer — the big ‘C’ — continues to be a stigma, only spoken about in hushed whispers; how it’s bad karma, how much it costs, and that nothing could be done.
Confronting this stigma head on, CRM has been reversing this language of cancer, transforming the big ‘C’ to a little ‘c’, and we plan to develop tools backed by good research to ensure that we can truly fight cancer on all fronts.
We believe that we will reverse the grip of cancer in our lives. We want researchers to win the war against cancer by turning it around with new ways of prevention and cure. We want to empower the public through impactful outreach programmes, with the hopes that Malaysians will respond differently to cancer by coming forward for screenings and going through with treatments.
Our driving force is held together by these goals:
- Improving the survival rates of Asian cancer patients, focusing on neglected areas of research.
- Empowering Asians to have the proper screening and treatment.
- Improving survival rates by being more accessible, focusing on providing existing cures to patients rather than sit on inaction and potentially losing lives.
- Making affordable and timely treatments by repurposing drugs, acknowledging the reality that developing new cures are costly and risky.
- Putting Malaysia in the global spotlight for cancer research by collaborating with top scientists around the world,and working to nurture the next generation of Malaysian cancer researchers.