Scientist - Pathology Burns Lab

Scientist - Pathology Burns Lab

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Boston, MA

Full Time

A Scientist position is open to join the Burns laboratory in the Department of Pathology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. We are looking for a staff scientist with experience in molecular biology, DNA sequencing, and genomics. Our group studies high copy number repeats in the human genome, and the biology of the retrotransposons and endogenous retroviruses that generate these sequences. We and others have shown that subsets of these normally silenced elements are expressed as a hallmark of human cancers, and that this results in somatically acquired retrotransposon insertions in cancer genomes. The laboratory has broad interests to explore this biology in normal tissues and in different types of cancers and cancer models, and to leverage our understandings to inform cancer detection and treatment.

Responsibilities:

• The successful candidate will become a point person within the lab for tailored sequencing applications, including mobile genetic element mapping projects for industry-sponsored projects and for the new National Institutes of Health (NIH) Somatic Mosaicism across Human Tissues (SMaHT) Network.
• Experience in next generation nucleic acid sequencing, long read sequencing (e.g., Oxford Nanopore), chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)seq or other specialized sequencing library preparations, and/or in studying chromatin interactions (e.g., Hi-C) is needed.
• Candidates must have wet bench skills and be willing to work on-site full-time.
• Experience in bioinformatics, progress reporting, and/or project management will be helpful in the role.
• He/she will need excellent communication skills, verbal and written. The recruit will help to promote the culture of the lab as an intellectually engaging, rigorous, productive, and positive workplace.
• He/she will be provided ample opportunities to develop and author new protocols, participate in collaborations, and develop a national and international reputation in this field.
• Technical proficiency, scientific creativity, collaboration with others and independent thought.
• Works on problems of moderate to large scope in which analysis of situation or data requires a review of identifiable factors.
• Exercises judgment within defined procedures and practices to determine appropriate action.
• Design, conduct, and troubleshoot hypothesis-testing experiments.
• Design, conduct, and validate high-throughput, hypothesis-generating screens.
• Train research technicians, postdoctoral fellows, and collaborators in specialized sequencing protocols.
• Maintain detailed and understandable lab notebooks.
• Interpret and discuss research findings with lab members and the principal investigator.
• Use existing computational tools to analyze complex data sets, including next generation sequencing data sets, and/or fluently and effectively collaborate with computational biologists to accomplish this.
• Develop figures to depict research findings, write research and review papers, and present at scientific meetings.

Qualifications:

• Accomplished and motivated candidates with at least 4 years of experience and an advanced degree in biomedical sciences and significant experience in molecular biology are encouraged to apply.
• Technical skills in molecular biology, nucleic acid sequencing, and genomics as applied to the human genome are essential.
• Clear thinking, writing, and communication skills are absolutely needed.
• A record of scientific accomplishment as shown by peer-reviewed original research papers is required.
• A background in transposable elements and experience working with repetitive sequences is highly desirable, though is not required and can be ‘learned on the job.

To learn more and to apply, please visit: https://careers.dana-farber.org/scientist_pathology_burns_lab_1

About Dana-Farber Cancer Institute:

At Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, we work every day to create an innovative, caring, and inclusive environment where every patient, family, and staff member feels they belong.  As relentless as we are in our mission to reduce the burden of cancer for all, we are equally committed to diversifying our faculty and staff.  Cancer knows no boundaries and when it comes to hiring the most dedicated and diverse professionals, neither do we. If working in this kind of organization inspires you, we encourage you to apply.

Located in Boston and the surrounding communities, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is a leader in life changing breakthroughs in cancer research and patient care. We are united in our mission of conquering cancer, HIV/AIDS and related diseases. We strive to create an inclusive, diverse, and equitable environment where we provide compassionate and comprehensive care to patients of all backgrounds, and design programs to promote public health particularly among high-risk and underserved populations. We conduct groundbreaking research that advances treatment, we educate tomorrow's physician/researchers, and we work with amazing partners, including other Harvard Medical School-affiliated hospitals.

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is an equal opportunity employer and affirms the right of every qualified applicant to receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, national origin, sexual orientation, genetic information, disability, age, ancestry, military service, protected veteran status, or other groups as protected by law.