Bioinformatics Analyst II/III job with Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research

Bioinformatics Analyst II/III

Job ID: req3427
Employee Type: exempt full-time
Division: Bioinformatics and Computational Science
Facility: NIH
Location: NIH Campus 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892 USA

The Frederick National Laboratory is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and operated by Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc. The lab addresses some of the most urgent and intractable problems in the biomedical sciences in cancer and AIDS, drug development and first-in-human clinical trials, applications of nanotechnology in medicine, and rapid response to emerging threats of infectious diseases.

Accountability, Compassion, Collaboration, Dedication, Integrity and Versatility; it’s the FNL way.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Frederick National Laboratory is dedicated to improving human health through the discovery and innovation in the biomedical sciences, focusing on cancer, AIDS and emerging infectious diseases.

The Bioinformatics and Computational Science (BACS) Directorate works collaboratively and helps to fulfill the mission of Frederick National Laboratory in the areas of bioinformatics and computational science by developing and applying world-leading computing technologies to basic and applied biomedical research challenges, data science, supporting critical operations, developing and delivering national data resources, and utilizing leading-edge software.

The Advanced Biomedical and Computational Science (ABCS) group is a part of BACS and serves as a hub of translational scientists with expertise in machine learning applied to the interpretation of 2D and 3D biomedical images, clinical and genomics integration, computational chemistry, protein modeling, bioinformatic analysis of omics data, and other applications of computational and data science. ABCS develops state-of-the-art technologies in large-scale data modeling, analysis, and integration and supports the scientific research at the Frederick National Lab by helping translate scientific questions to technical solutions for cancer and biomedical research.

The Thoracic Surgery Branch (TSB) conducts laboratory research pertaining to mechanisms of initiation and progression of thoracic malignancies; translates results of laboratory research to clinical protocols examining novel strategies to improve detection, diagnosis, and treatment of these neoplasms; and provides comprehensive clinical support for all patients with thoracic surgical issues at the NIH Clinical Center. These studies include epigenetics of lung and esophageal cancers and malignant pleural mesotheliomas Current research focus includes a) Targeting the Epigenome for Lung Cancer Therapy, b) Epigenetic Mechanisms of Gene Expression in Thoracic Malignancies, c) Epigenetic Alterations Induced by Cigarette Smoke in Thoracic Malignancies and d) Modulating Cancer Stem Cell Signaling in Thoracic Malignancies. Genomics analysis to support these studies include NGS sequencing to determine epigenetic changes between tumor and normal as well as assessing the impact on noncoding RNA / transposable element (TE) using NGS sequencing technologies.

KEY ROLES/RESPONSIBILITIES

The Bioinformatics Analyst II/III is responsible for providing collaborative bioinformatics support within the Thoracic Surgery Branch, National Cancer Institute (NCI). S/he is responsible for:

  • supporting laboratory research focused on the mechanisms of initiation and progression of thoracic malignancies and translate laboratory research results into clinical protocols to improve detection, diagnosis, and treatment of these cancers.
  • devising variant annotation workflows using publicly available data, including Annovar, 1000genomes, ExAC, MyCancerGenome, ClinSeq, ESP, ClinVar, HGMD, and other databases.
  • implementing proprietary and publicly available tools on a local server environment and executing pipelines in batch mode on the local HPC
  • installing and maintaining a local version of an interactive, web-based data visualization tool using R, plotly, and R-Shiny
  • designing, developing and deploying robust workflows, as well as custom scripts, to support the analysis & integration of complex genomic data (including exome/targeted/RNAseq/ATACseq/scRNAseq/scATACseq sequencing data) for clinical sequencing projects
  • mining publicly available biological data to generate novel hypotheses or insights
  • presenting analysis results, in a clear and concise manner, to an audience not familiar with bioinformatics

The Bioinformatics Analyst II/III is expected to work effectively as a member of a team; coordinate activities among other groups located at the Bethesda, Frederick, Rockville and Gaithersburg NCI campuses; follow sound scientific practices and maintain effective documentation of activities and analyses. Majority of time will be spent on the main NIH campus in Bethesda.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS

To be considered for this position, you must minimally meet the knowledge, skills, and abilities listed below:

  • Possession of a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Math or Biomedical Science related field from an accredited college or university according to the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). Foreign degrees must be evaluated for U.S. equivalency
    • Bioinformatics Analyst II – In addition to the education requirement, a minimum of two (2) years of progressively responsible experience
    • Bioinformatics Analyst III – In addition to the education requirement, a minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible experience
  • Ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

Candidates with these desired skills will be given preferential consideration:

  • A Masters’ or PhD degree in any quantitative science is preferred
  • Ability to multi-task across projects and prior customer-facing role
  • Experience in creating NGS workflows on HPC or Cloud environments
  • Management of large genomic data sets including integration with data available from public sources
  • Record of scientific achievements including journal publications and conference presentations
  • Prior experience in any of these areas: thoracic malignancies, stem cell research, epigenetics, HiC data analysis, non-coding RNA, analysis of Transposable Elements
  • Familiarity with machine learning, data mining and statistical modeling

EXPECTED COMPETENCIES

  • Proficiency in at least two of the following programming languages: Python, R, Perl, Java and C/C++
  • Experience in at least two of the following areas: Exome sequencing, ChIPSeq, RNASeq, scRNASeq, ATACSeq, DNA methylation analysis
  • Familiarity with public databases: NCBI, Ensembl, TCGA, cBioPortal, Broad FireHose
  • Knowledge of working in a cluster environment

Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE) Minority/Female/Disabled/Veteran (M/F/D/V) Drug Free Workplace (DFW)

Read more here: Source link