Staff Scientist

Staff Scientist, Bacterial Pathogenesis and Antimicrobial Resistance Unit, LCIM, NIAID, NIH

This opportunity is for a staff scientist position in the Bacterial Pathogenesis and Antimicrobial Resistance Unit (BPARU) of the Laboratory of Clinical Immunology and Microbiology (LCIM) in the Division of Intramural Research (DIR) at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), located on the main Bethesda campus of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  The mission of BPARU is to improve understanding of the mechanisms underlying pathogenesis and antimicrobial resistance in bacteria of epidemiologic significance in humans.  This position will offer a unique opportunity to work at the intersection of clinical infectious disease, pathogen genomics, and computational biology.  To learn more about the BPARU, see John P. Dekker, M.D., Ph.D., FCAP. 

The staff scientist will have broad responsibilities in managing research activities in BPARU and will develop and lead independent research projects in the area of microbial genomics under the direction of the principal investigator.  The responsibilities of this position include 1) Oversight of technical and scientific operations within the BPARU genomics research group; 2) Bioinformatics data analysis support for individual projects;  3) Development of computational methods for handling large, complex genomic datasets requiring custom approaches to accommodate project-specific analytical requirements; 4) Oversight and maintenance of networks and sequence file databases, oversight of genomic data integrity and quality assurance, and oversight of genomic data uploads to public databases; 5) Assistance in supervision, training, and mentorship of postdoctoral fellows and other junior scientists in computational genomics approaches; and 6) Generation of publication quality figures and writing of scientific papers.

Requirements

• Doctoral degree in genomics, bioinformatics, computational biology, computer science, or related discipline
• 4-10 years of postdoctorate experience in bioinformatics and microbial genomics
• Expert-level proficiency with programming in environments such as Linux, Bioconductor R, perl, and/or python
• Expert-level proficiency with quantitative microbial genomics analysis
• Ability to devise custom approaches for analyzing large genomic data sets generated by high throughput sequencing technologies (Illumina, PacBio, Nanopore)
• High-impact publications in the field of microbial genomics as a lead author
• Ability to assist in writing, figure generation, and publication of manuscripts
• Ability to assist in management of technical and scientific operations of a genomics research group to achieve project goals
• Ability to work with others and communicate effectively in a group, team-oriented working environment
• Ability to provide leadership and act as a role model and mentor where appropriate or when needed and to lead projects independently

To Apply

Interested candidates should send their curriculum vitae, bibliography, and a one- to two-page statement on their background and interests in the position to john.dekker@nih.gov.

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