Bioinformatics Analyst

Job Title: Bioinformatics Scientist

Location: Research Triangle Park, NC 27709

Duration: 3 Years to Permanent

Shift: 40 Hours/Week (Mon to Fri)

Onsite: Yes ; Teleworking Eligible: Yes

Overall Position Summary and Objectives:

• The position will independently provide bioinformatics and genomics project support to the Molecular Pathology Group within the Comparative and Molecular Pathogenesis Branch, Division of Translational Toxicology.

Statement of Work Details:

• Coordinate the progress on multiple bioinformatics projects in various stages of completion while taking principal responsibility on projects as needed
• Collaborate with and support scientists to design experiments, analyze and interpret high throughput biological data
• Write relevant sections of manuscripts, prepare publication quality figures
• Establish reproducible data analysis pipelines and standard operating procedures (SOPs)

Min Education:

• Master's

Certifications & Licenses Preferred:

• Amazon Web Services (AWS) Certification

Skills:

• Whole Genome Sequencing
• Next gen sequencing data analysis: Bulk RNA-Sequencing
• Microarray data analysis
• Work with large data sets
• Clinical and/or translational research

Software:

• SQL
• R
• PERL
• Python
• Linux

Field of Study:

• Genetics
• Molecular Biology
• Computer Programming and Data Processing
• Statistics and Decision Science

Statement of Work Details:

• Provides programming and troubleshooting support to the Federal Government in the dissemination of research data.
• Generate and optimize programs and scripts for the analysis of data; create programs and algorithms and develop computational infrastructure resources for organizing and parsing data from large and complex data.
• Serve as bioinformatics expert and coordinate with teams of biologists to conduct experimental queries and/or perform portions of studies using complex procedures and techniques common to modern bioinformatics.
• Coordinate building bioinformatics infrastructure to ensure easy and meaningful scientific analysis and interpretation of data.
• Provide broad-based programming and analytic support for a wide variety of bioinformatic and research projects.
• Install, troubleshoot and run open-source and commercial scientific software on platforms

Performs computations on research data analysis.

• Perform computational analysis of, and interpret results.
• Provide reports based on analysis of scientific data.
• Perform sequencing and alignment of raw data, and interpret new data using larger public access datasets.
• Provide interpretive analyses of data derived from different experimental platforms to generate biological meaning.
• Write custom programs and algorithms to support data analyses and discovery.

Works with staff on scientific programming and experimental design.

• Collaborate with scientists to design, analyze, manage and interpret all types of data.
• Design and execute computational experiments.
• Work with staff on planning of experiments, and data analysis for internal and collaborative projects; use bioinformatics expertise to advise and help bench scientists on experimental design and trouble-shooting.
• Work with staff to develop specifications for new analysis; design, test and implement solutions.
• Make recommendations to investigators about the correct computational tools for testing scientific hypotheses and reaching valid conclusions.

Records observations and report results at weekly laboratory meetings.

• Maintain proper and detailed documentation of the analysis performed and report results at lab meetings.
• Attend scientific and programming meetings; take and compile comprehensive notes; organize and edit content of meeting reports.
• Prepare scientific reports and progress reports; assemble data to prepare tables, graphs and slides; conduct scientific and program related information searches and report results.
• Organize daily laboratory notebook on experiments; prepare weekly updates on on-going experiments and tasks; provide monthly progress notes on assigned projects; submit final progress reports and future directions on projects.
• Organize laboratory notebook or computer database to record results of calculations. Share results at lab meetings.

Provides statistical support / analysis on research data.

• Devise Client methods of statistical analysis for collected data.
• Utilize and adapt existing bioinformatics techniques to check for trends and patterns in the data.
• Write complex queries to multiple databases.
• Perform data processing and data analysis with existing computational and statistical methods.
• Assist in evaluating and interpreting results for validity and scientific meaning.

Provides research / service goals in the context of the laboratory's overall mission.

• Create Client programs and algorithms that facilitate discovery of knowledge in investigating large and complex data.
• Develop and optimize programs and scripts that facilitate organization, integration and data-mining of large data sets; integrate these models into a framework of best practices.
• Participate in the design of new protocols involving computational methods.
• Work with staff on the development and maintenance of bioinformatics tools, scripts and pipe-lines for data.
• Participate in research design with investigators for determining best practices pertaining to the bioinformatics analysis in new and ongoing projects.

Evaluates new types of experimental approaches to protocols based on knowledge of scientific literature, available facilities and research needs.

• Research and review literature to retrieve targeted clinical or scientific information, including Client statistical methods, from publicly available resources.
• Collaborate with staff to review current and historical procedures for the acquisition, quality control and management of data.
• Analyze and evaluate data cleaning and harmonization needs in the using a variety of descriptive statistics and analytic methods.
• Identify new tools and resources for reaching biologically meaningful conclusions.
• Collaborate with experimentalists and computational biologists to develop new computational tools to answer research questions of interest.