BIOINFORMATICIAN I

School of Medicine

Established in 1930, Duke University School of Medicine is the youngest of the nation's top medical schools. Ranked sixth among medical schools in the nation, the School takes pride in being an inclusive community of outstanding learners, investigators, clinicians, and staff where interdisciplinary collaboration is embraced and great ideas accelerate translation of fundamental scientific discoveries to improve human health locally and around the globe. Composed of more than 2,600 faculty physicians and researchers, nearly 2,000 students, and more than 6,200 staff, the Duke University School of Medicine along with the Duke University School of Nursing, and Duke University Health System comprise Duke Health, a world-class academic medical center. The Health System encompasses Duke University Hospital, Duke Regional Hospital, Duke Raleigh Hospital, Duke Health Integrated Practice, Duke Primary Care, Duke Home Care and Hospice, Duke Health and Wellness, and multiple affiliations.

BIOINFORMATICIAN I (2895)

The W. Kraus/Huffman Laboratories study the effects of lifestyle interventions on the aging process, general overall cardiometabolic disease, and muscle health and function in a broad range of clinical diseases and settings.  We are particularly interested in the molecular mechanisms whereby chronic exercise training and dietary interventions translate to better human quality of life, improved health, and prolonged lifespan and health span.  To this end, we use human samples of muscle, fat, and peripheral blood to assay multi-omics platforms across genetics, epigenetics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics to marry assessments of physiologic responses to such interventions.  We are looking for bioinformaticians eager to work with strong interdisciplinary, multi-institutional academic investigator teams to develop and use of state-of-the-art bioinformatics methods to address critical research questions leading to improved human health.

Occupational Summary

Perform bioinformatics analyses using existing pipelines and new pipelines composed of existing tools. Engage in the design, analysis, and interpretation of multi-omics data. Lead collaborative and cross-functional project teams, including clinical investigators, quantitative scientists, and graduate students, to conduct genomics projects.

Work Performed

• Implement software tools, text mining, programming skills, and statistical analysis techniques for flexible and effective analysis of biological data to create a new protocol for discovering and visualizing gene networks.
• Quickly learn advanced statistical analysis techniques through communication and independent research to ensure quality analysis and effective approaches to handling biological data.
• Regular archiving of code to GitHub repositories for future reference, organization, and version management.
• Maintain strong communication with other developers, supervisors, and those of multiple disciplines to share ideas and implement effective solutions while making progress independently.
• Collaborate with clinical and translational investigators.
• Prepare weekly progress reports and deliver insightful analyses of research methods and findings to departmental colleagues and external collaborators.
• Independently develop and manage new collaborations such as submission of new grants that cover bioinformatics effort, development of new internal or external collaborative agreements that cover bioinformatics effort.
• Develop and implement innovative computational approaches for the analysis of large multi-omics datasets generated from state-of-the-art -omics technologies.
• Use developed analytical, algorithmic, and scientific understanding to propose and perform analyses.
• Learn, implement, and stay knowledgeable about state-of-the-art methodologies.
• Develop, configure, and deploy standardized pipelines or toolchains for sequence analysis of different sample types into existing computational environments.
• Follow institution guidelines, utilize good clinical and basic science research practice, and identify relevant regulatory requirements for agencies such as FDA, ICH, NIH, etc., and associated reporting requirements.
• Lead the analytical team responsible for designing and validating data sets, programs, and output products.
• Create reproducible and transparent code, check and/or verify results (QC) based on provided specifications.
• Assist the laboratory PIs in training and supervising graduate students and trainees.

Required Qualifications at this Level

Education/Training:

Work requires a B.S. in Bioinformatics or the Biological Sciences with demonstrable computational skills; or a B.S. in Computer Science with a strong interest in Biology/Genomics. M.S. preferred. 

Experience:

OR AN EQUIVALENT COMBINATION OF RELEVANT EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE 

Skills:

• Experience: in complex data analysis on biological data using innovative computational methods.
• Education: Master’s degree or a minimum of 2 years of experience in the field.
• Proficiencies: developing novel protocols for data analysis, designing custom software, and deeply researching scientific literature.
• Computational: AWS, Bioinformatics file format parsing, Bioinformatics Pipelines, Cytoscape, Data Visualization, Genome Assembly, GitHub, Linux, MySQL, Nanopore Sequencing Analysis, Read Library Simulation, Read QC, Research and Literature Review, Statistical Data Analysis
• Languages: C/C++, Java, MySQL, Python, R
• Libraries: matplotlib, networkx, numpy, os, pandas, random, scipy, seaborn, sklearn, statsmodels 

The intent of this job description is to provide a representative and level of the types of duties and responsibilities that will be required of positions given this title and shall not be construed as a declaration of the total of the specific duties and responsibilities of any particular position. Employees may be directed to perform job-related tasks other than those specifically presented in this description.

Duke University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer committed to providing employment opportunity without regard to an individual's age, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status.

Duke aspires to create a community built on collaboration, innovation, creativity, and belonging. Our collective success depends on the robust exchange of ideas-an exchange that is best when the rich diversity of our perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences flourishes. To achieve this exchange, it is essential that all members of the community feel secure and welcome, that the contributions of all individuals are respected, and that all voices are heard. All members of our community have a responsibility to uphold these values.

Essential Physical Job Functions

Certain jobs at Duke University and Duke University Health System may include essential job functions that require specific physical and/or mental abilities. Additional information and provision for requests for reasonable accommodation will be provided by each hiring department.

Duke is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer committed to providing employment opportunity without regard to an individual's age, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status.

Duke aspires to create a community built on collaboration, innovation, creativity, and belonging. Our collective success depends on the robust exchange of ideas—an exchange that is best when the rich diversity of our perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences flourishes. To achieve this exchange, it is essential that all members of the community feel secure and welcome, that the contributions of all individuals are respected, and that all voices are heard. All members of our community have a responsibility to uphold these values.

Essential Physical Job Functions: Certain jobs at Duke University and Duke University Health System may include essentialjob functions that require specific physical and/or mental abilities. Additional information and provision for requests for reasonable accommodation will be provided by each hiring department.