BACKGROUND
The Alkek Center for Metagenomics and Microbiome Research (CMMR) is coordinating and leading research and development efforts in this area across the Texas Medical Center, with collaborators from around the US, and with those abroad. CMMR researchers are developing molecular and informatic tools and resources to advance diverse clinical and basic research projects pertaining to the organisms that comprise the microbiome, the genetic makeup of these bacteria, viruses and fungi, and how these commensal microorganisms interact with human cells and tissues during the course of life. The intent is for these projects to lead to the development of new treatments and diagnostics for a variety of heritable and infectious diseases as well as the development of additional reagents having other biotech applications. We continuously seek individuals who are looking to work in a diverse research environment that supports ongoing genomics research and improvements in metagenomic sequencing technology and analyses.
RESPONSIBILITIES
We are looking to fill the position of Bioinformatician within the CMMR. The Bioinformatician will be expected to lead metagenomic and statistical analyses of microbial community data sets derived from Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) data.
Duties
- Initiation/implementation, troubleshooting, and maintenance of analysis software in support of microbial ecology studies
- Proactively providing data analysis support to multiple metagenomic sequencing projects
- Coordination of data flow with a wide variety of external scientific collaborators
- Tracking project data and reporting analysis results
- Collaboration with the software engineering groups to define software requirements
- Ability to plan and organize detailed projects with multiple tasks and deadline
- Proven ability to work effectively in a collaborative team environment
REQUIREMENTS
He/she is expected to have experience in scientific programming with applications to biological research, plus experience with Perl, HTML, CGI, relation databases and SQL. Experience with C++ and programming using UNIX/LINUX clusters are desirable. Experience with NexGen data and metagenomic analyses are strongly desired. May be at the B.S., M.S., or Ph.D. level.
PREFERENCES
Skills
- A degree in quantitative science (bioinformatics, molecular biology, physics, etc)
- Broad knowledge of biology, especially microbial ecology and/or genetics
- Experience with large genomic data sets (Next-generation sequence, genotyping, or expression data), data mining, and data analysis
- Experience with UNIX and cluster computing preferred
- Perl, Ruby, or other scripting development experience
- Experience with machine learning and/or artificial intelligence programming a plus
- Demonstrated independent thinking and problem solving ability
- Strong oral and written communication skills
LOCALE
Houston, Texas
HOW TO APPLY
Qualified candidates may also submit resumes via mail, e-mail or fax to:
Email: winwood@bcm.edu, nadim.ajami@bcm.edu
Alkek Center for Metagenomics and Microbiome Research
Attn: Megan Coombs and Nadim Ajami
One Baylor Plaza -- 700B, BCM MS385
Houston, Texas 77030
Fax: 713-798-1418
