Rami Baghdan
Senior Scientist/Product Owner At BenchSci
Toronto,Ontario
Summary
Bioinformatician and Product Owner with 4+ years of experience supporting pharmaceutical discovery through data-driven ontologies. I specialize in translating complex scientific needs into scalable data strategies, working closely with cross-functional teams to expand and refine biological knowledge bases. Skilled in Python, SQL (BigQuery), and agile collaboration, I help drive impact by aligning science, product, and engineering.
Overview
8
8
years of professional experience
5
5
years of post-secondary education
5
5
Certifications
2
2
Languages
Work History
Senior Scientist - Bioinformatics
BenchSci
05.2024 - Current
- Translate high-level client needs into actionable data strategies as Product Owner, enabling scientific discovery for pharmaceutical clients through robust internal ontologies.
- Combine deep scientific expertise with product leadership to align and influence stakeholders across science, engineering, and product teams.
- Leverage generative AI tools to accelerate ontology design, source evaluations, and documentation, enhancing efficiency and consistency across the knowledge base.
- Design and implement scalable, ontology-driven data systems using SQL (BigQuery) and Python to support biological entity discovery.
- Enhance data quality, breadth, and integration of third-party sources through agile workflows and cross-functional collaboration.
Scientist - Bioinformatics
BenchSci
10.2022 - 04.2024
- Served as Subject Matter Expert (SME) for internal organism and protein ontologies.
- Evaluated and integrated new data sources to meet research goals aligned with clients.
- Leveraged SQL (BigQuery) and Python to process, QA, and transform large-scale biological datasets.
- Maintained and enriched ontology systems to support scalable product features.
Scientific Analyst - Bioinformatics
BenchSci
Toronto, Canada
12.2021 - 10.2022
- Mapped reagent targets to internal ontologies to improve search functionality.
- Contributed to the development of internal bioinformatics databases.
- Ensured data integrity and standardization for new projects and ingestion efforts.
Bioinformatics Research Assistant
University of Guelph
02.2021 - 12.2021
- Assisted with research projects through data analysis using Bash, R, or Python programming (e.g., DNA sequence clustering analysis, identification of DNA sequences, statistical analysis).
- Prepared figures, performed literature reviews, and formatted manuscripts for submission to scientific journals.
- Collaborated with lab members to troubleshoot code issues, discuss biological/coding problems and review code.
Master's Project Lead
Luminex Corporation
05.2020 - 02.2021
- Developed pipeline to refine the taxonomic classification of microbial and viral GenBank records using R, Python, and Bash programming languages.
- Engineered machine learning models to classify viral and microbial sequence data at the species/genus level.
Research Assistant
University of Guelph
09.2020 - 01.2021
- Responsibilities: compiled published DNA sequences, analyzed DNA sequence data using Python and expanded various machine learning algorithms (DNN, SVM, KNN, and Random Forest) to classify COI sequences to various taxonomic levels.
Laboratory Assistant
Gulf Medical University
06.2019 - 07.2019
- Prepared and maintained healthy and cancerous human lung cell cultures.
- Treated tissue cultures with shisha extract to observe its impact on cell morphological structure, gene expression, and DNA structure.
- Observation of immunofluorescence microscopy, Next Generation Sequencing, protein and RNA extraction from cells, real-time PCR, and western blotting.
Laboratory Intern
BGI Genomics
12.2018 - 04.2019
- Performed 10+ DNA extractions from human whole blood for NGS workflow.
- Prepared entire genome and exome libraries prior to sequencing.
- Fragmented DNA both enzymatically and mechanically with Covaris Ultrasonicator.
- Ran agarose gel electrophoresis for DNA size analysis.
- Observed usage and maintenance of NGS technologies (MGIseq 2000, MGIDL- 200) throughout internship.
Senior Research Project Lead
American University of Sharjah
01.2018 - 05.2018
- Studied impact of vitamin D on cognition by conducting cognitive tests on 30 participants over 8-week intervention period.
- Discovered potential positive correlation between vitamin D levels and spatial working memory.
Psychology Research Assistant
American University of Sharjah
03.2017 - 05.2018
- Sorted 100+ data samples for project studying relationship between perception and behavior.
- Designed various experiments for research conducted at University as member of a seven-person team.
Education
Master's degree - Bioinformatics
University of Guelph
Guelph, ON 01.2019 - 01.2021
Course - Data Science
BrainStation
Toronto, ON 02.2024 - 04.2024
Bachelor of Science - Biology, General
American University of Sharjah
United Arab Emirates 01.2015 - 01.2018
Skills
Agile frameworks
Product planning
Python
SQL
R programming
Generative AI
Certification
Learning BigQuery
Awards
Dean's list Fall 2015 - Spring 2018., Chancellor's list Fall 2016, Fall 2017
Contact
- rbaghdan@gmail.com
- Www.linkedin.com/in/rami-baghdan-7433a4185 (LinkedIn)
Timeline
Senior Scientist - Bioinformatics
BenchSci
05.2024 - Current
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) - Scrum Alliance
03-2024
Course - Data Science
BrainStation
02.2024 - 04.2024
Certified Scrum Developer (CSD) - Scrum Alliance
01-2024
Learning Docker
10-2023
Learning BigQuery
05-2023
Scientist - Bioinformatics
BenchSci
10.2022 - 04.2024
Scientific Analyst - Bioinformatics
BenchSci
12.2021 - 10.2022
The Complete SQL Bootcamp 2021: Go From Zero to Hero
02-2021
Bioinformatics Research Assistant
University of Guelph
02.2021 - 12.2021
Research Assistant
University of Guelph
09.2020 - 01.2021
Master's Project Lead
Luminex Corporation
05.2020 - 02.2021
Laboratory Assistant
Gulf Medical University
06.2019 - 07.2019
Master's degree - Bioinformatics
University of Guelph
01.2019 - 01.2021
Laboratory Intern
BGI Genomics
12.2018 - 04.2019
Senior Research Project Lead
American University of Sharjah
01.2018 - 05.2018
Psychology Research Assistant
American University of Sharjah
03.2017 - 05.2018
Bachelor of Science - Biology, General
American University of Sharjah
01.2015 - 01.2018