Baylor College of Medicine and Department Summary:

The Alkek Center for Metagenomics and Microbiome Research Center(CMMR) is an integral part of the Baylor College of Medicine strategic plan and serves as a hub for translational microbiome research by: 1) providing sequencing, informatics, and microbiological expertise and resources to drive and support clinical and basic research microbiome studies, 2) providing the infrastructure and critical mass of expertise to explore host-microbe interactions, 3) driving technology and analytical development to improve metagenomic capabilities for characterizing bacterial, viral, and fungal communities, and 4) translating new discoveries into the realm of personalized medicine where new therapeutics and diagnostics may be implemented. Over the past 10 years, we've collaborated on more than 500 projects with over 300 research groups from around the world.

Summary

The CMMR is seeking a capable and experienced researcher to join the Service Center teams working on large, diverse microbiome projects and metagenomic datasets. In this role the candidate will be responsible for developing and implementing data processing and analysis plans based on collaborator's research demands. Support will be available from the Bioinformatics team for pipeline development, but the candidate will ensure that deliverables are met and disseminated back to the collaborator. The project deliverables are on a strict timeline, so the ability to quickly implement and adapt new approaches and algorithms will be paramount.

Job Duties

• Contribute to the implementation of sequencing and analysis activity to ensure research projects are completed on schedule and according to project specifications.
• Contribute to statistical analysis and interpretation of data for research projects.
• Contribute to develop statistical programs for data manipulation and implementation of standard and advanced statistical methodology.
• Contribute to protocol reviews, statistical report generation, manuscript preparation and grant writing.
• Discuss all project requirements with collaborators prior to initiation to ensure success. Prepare and execute analysis plan based on project scope and collaborator specifications.
• Generate data visualizations.
• Meet with collaborators on a regular basis to discuss results and present data analysis.
• Facilitate communication with scientific collaborators and maintain relationships in a proactive fashion.
• Identify opportunities for recruitment of new collaborators.
• Create project schedules and maintain them through the project lifecycle.
• Contribute to high level troubleshooting with laboratory staff as needed to develop mitigation plans.

Minimum Qualifications

• Master's degree in a related field.
• Four years of relevant experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• PhD in a scientific discipline
• Broad knowledge of biology, especially microbial ecology and/or genetics
• Broad knowledge of biology, especially microbial ecology and/or genetics
• Requires excellent communication skills, both oral and written.
• Requires the exercise of tact and diplomacy in dealing with faculty, staff, and students.
• Must be proficient in the use of statistical and data visualization software (such as R, python).
• Project and data management skills.
• Experience with large genomic data sets (Next generation, metagenomic, genotyping, or expression data), data mining, and data analysis