BIOINFORMATICS DATA SCIENTIST

Project Overview:

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Intramural Research Program is seeking to hire a Bioinformatics Scientist to join its Bioinformatics Core located on the main campus of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. The mission of the Bioinformatics Core is to provide omics-based analysis and software development support to Institute investigators and staff as needed. The Core receives and fulfills hundreds of ad-hoc requests per year and is involved in long term standing projects as well. To fulfill these requests, the Core is staffed by both Bioinformatics Scientists and Bioinformatics Engineers, who work together in integrated fashion. Ad-hoc omics-based analysis requests include, but are not limited to: Next-Generation Sequence (NGS) analysis (e.g., WGS, WXS, RNA-Seq, scRNA-Seq, ChIP-Seq, PhIP-Seq, Pathogen-Seq), microarray analysis, serology analysis, mass-spec analysis, metabolomic analysis, promoter analysis, Q-RT-PCR analysis, traditional sequence analysis, phylogenetic analysis, RNA structure and function prediction, miRNA target prediction, comparative genomics, and protein structure analysis. Goals of these requests include, but are not limited to: class discovery, biomarker discovery, modeling for prediction, network discovery, mechanism deconvolution, target discovery, and pathogen discovery.  Software development requests include, but are not limited to: custom scripting, database design, application development, and high performance computing. 

Primary Responsibilities:

The Bioinformatics Scientist sought will report to the Bioinformatics Core Director and: 1) provide omics-based analysis support to NINDS investigators and staff as needed, 2) independently conduct analysis in a time efficient manner using robust defendable methods, 3) assist in the interpretation of results and generation of novel hypotheses or conclusions, 4) present analysis results in a clear and concise manner to an audience not necessarily familiar with bioinformatics, and 5) perform training to NINDS investigators and staff on how to use bioinformatics tools and databases that the NIH has licensed and/or are publicly available.

• Four (4) years relevant experience evidenced by publication record.
• Experience in designing complex high throughput experiments.
• Experience with steps involved in analyzing high throughput data from complex experiment designs, including, but not limited to: data cleaning, data normalization, outlier assessment, data analysis, modeling, results interpretation and visualization.
• Experience in analyzing specific high throughput data types, including, but not limited to: WGS, WXS, RNA-Seq, scRNA-Seq, ChIP-Seq, PhIP-Seq, Pathogen-Seq, Targeted Resequencing, Microarray (one color, two color).
• Experience in submitting high throughput data sets to public repositories.
• Proficient in using R and at least one ad-hoc scripting language (e.g., Perl, Python).
• Proficient in invoking open-source command-line tools for high throughput data analysis.
• Has solid background in applied statistics.
• Proven ability to interact and work well with others.
• Proven ability to multitask.
• Proven ability to meet/beat expectations per agreed-to analysis deliverables.

Required Skills & Qualifications:

• Must have practical or course work experience with sequencing

Benefits: Competitive benefits package including health, dental, vision, life insurance coverage, 401(k) Plan, Training Programs, Accrued Paid Time Off (PTO) and Paid Holidays.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled