Research Associate

The UNC School of Medicine has a rich tradition of excellence and care. Our mission is to improve the health and wellbeing of North Carolinians, and others whom we serve. We accomplish this by providing leadership and excellence in the interrelated areas of patient care, education, and research. We strive to promote faculty, staff, and learner development in a diverse, respectful environment where our colleagues demonstrate professionalism, enhance learning, and create personal and professional sustainability. We optimize our partnership with the UNC Health System through close collaboration and commitment to service.
OUR VISION
Our vision is to be the nation’s leading public school of medicine. We are ranked 2nd in primary care education among all US schools of medicine and 5th among public peers in NIH research funding. Our Allied Health Department is home to five top-ranked divisions, and we are home to 18 top-ranked clinical and basic science departments in NIH research funding.
OUR MISSION
Our mission is to improve the health and well-being of North Carolinians and others whom we serve. We accomplish this by providing leadership and excellence in the interrelated areas of patient care, education, and research.
Patient Care: We will promote health and provide superb clinical care while maintaining our strong tradition of reaching underserved populations and reducing health disparities across North Carolina and beyond.
Education: We will prepare tomorrow’s health care professionals and biomedical researchers by facilitating learning within innovative curricula and team-oriented interprofessional education. We will cultivate outstanding teaching and research faculty, and we will recruit outstanding students and trainees from highly diverse backgrounds to create a socially responsible, highly skilled workforce.
Research: We will develop and support a rich array of outstanding health sciences research programs, centers, and resources. We will provide infrastructure and opportunities for collaboration among disciplines throughout and beyond our University to support outstanding research. We will foster programs in the areas of basic, translational, mechanistic, and population research.

The UNC Integrated Genomics Cores and Bioinformatic and Analytics Research Collaborative (BARC) is looking for a Research Associate/Analyst.

The analyst will provide bioinformatics and analytical support to a large cancer-focused project, and act as a consultant and analyst to projects in the UNC research community for BARC and a precision medicine initiative (https://www.med.unc.edu/ppmh/).

Of top priority BARC projects are COVID-19 genomics analyses, such as those on resistance mutation detection, host-pathogen interactions, and innate immune response to the virus in humans. Additionally, the analyst will be applying data science concepts and machine learning algorithms to electronic health record (EHR) data to solve clinical informatics problems for a precision medicine initiative. Other BARC projects will include DNA-Seq and RNA-Seq analyses, custom downstream analysis, and data visualization.

This position will spend 35% of its time providing bioinformatics and analytics support to cancer studies that use RNA-Seq data, 35% of its time consulting and providing bioinformatics support for COVID-19 studies and others from BARC, 15% of its time applying data science to projects on precision medicine and EHR data, and 15% of its time coordinating internships in the BARC. The Research Associate will be expected to provide practical mentorship and training to BARC Interns and support workshops on bioinformatics.

Familiarity with genomic data, electronic health record data and health informatics is strongly preferred; background in biology is helpful but not required. Must be able to work independently and as a part of a diverse team.

Skills:
- Advanced ability to code in a scripting language (Python or Perl), Pandas
- Proficiency with R or similar statistical language
- SQL is a plus
- Experience working in a HPC environment
- Familiarity with current open-source bioinformatics tools for sequencing analysis
- Familiarity with electronic health record data a plus.

Relevant post-Baccalaureate degree required (or foreign degree equivalent); for candidates demonstrating comparable independent research productivity, will accept a relevant Bachelor’s degree (or foreign degree equivalent) and 3 or more years of relevant experience in substitution. May require terminal degree and licensure.

- Advanced ability to code in a scripting language (Python or Perl), Pandas
- Proficiency with R or similar statistical language
- Experience working in an HPC/cloud environment
- Familiarity with current open-source bioinformatics tools for sequencing analysis
- Familiarity with single-cell genomics

- This position requires expertise in a scripting language (Python or Perl), and proficiency in a statistical language like R
- A background in biology, cancer or genomics is helpful but not required.
- Strong candidates will also have experience analyzing electronic health record data, RNA-Seq, and viral data

Not Applicable.

If you experience any problems accessing the system or have questions about the application process, please contact the Office of Human Resources at (919) 843-2300 or send an email to [email protected]
Please note: The Office of Human Resources will not be able to provide specific updates regarding position or application status.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or status as a protected veteran.