Postdoctoral Fellow in Virus Evolution and Spillover

Organization

National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD and surrounding area

The Division of Intramural Research (DIR) at the National Library
of Medicine (NLM) invites applications for a position as a Postdoctoral
Fellow supervised by Dr. Martha Nelson.

About the position

The NLM is one of the 27 institutes at the National Institutes of
Health (NIH). The NLM is the world�s largest biomedical library and
a leader in research, development, and training in biomedical
informatics and health information technology. The DIR within the
NLM has two primary research areas: computational health research
and computational biology. In computational health research, our
efforts center on natural language processing (NLP), clinical image
analysis, biomedical ontologies, information modeling, and clinical
data analytics. In computational biology, we emphasize transcriptional
regulation, chromatin and network biology, structural and functional
analysis, sequence statistics, and evolutionary genomics. The
post-doctoral scholar will study how rapidly evolving RNA viruses
(e.g., H5N1 avian influenza, coronavirus) transmit and evolve at
the human-animal interface, using advanced Bayesian phylodynamic
approaches and large-scale genomic data. The post-doctoral scholar
will perform data analyses within an interdisciplinary team of
international scientists who conduct fieldwork, experimental studies,
and statistical analyses on emerging pathogens. This position is
strictly computational (no fieldwork or lab work required). This
project is part of a longstanding government-academic partnership
spanning multiple Federal agencies and academic institutions to
study disease spillover between humans, wildlife, and livestock and
identify successful intervention strategies to break transmission
in real-world settings.

Position Overview: This is a full-time postdoctoral fellow position.
The initial appointment will be for one year, and is renewable on
a yearly basis, with extensions up to 5 years total. The NIH offers
a competitive salary (based on postdoctoral experience, see stipend
tables: https://www.training.nih.gov/stipends/) and comprehensive
health insurance.

The NIH is dedicated to the continued education and career development
of all its research staff. Candidates are subject to a background
investigation. Additional information about NIH postdoctoral
fellowships: https://www.training.nih.gov/research-training/pd/

Apply for this vacancy

What you'll need to apply

Prospective candidates should include "Post-doctoral Inquiry" and
their last name in the email subject line. Applicants must submit
the following materials to Dr. Martha Nelson at
nelsonma@mail.nih.gov.

  *   Updated CV
  *   Statement of research interest
  *   Contact information for 3 references (please include the full name
      with titles, institute, email address and phone number of each
      reference).

Application Deadline: Applications will be accepted until the
position is filled.

Contact name

Dr. Martha Nelson

Contact email

nelsonma@mail.nih.gov

Qualifications

  *   Candidates should have or be close to obtaining a Ph.D. or
      equivalent degree in computational biology, computer science,
      bioinformatics, molecular biology, or a closely related field.
  *   Candidates with experience using Bayesian approaches to
      phylodynamic analysis of virus populations (specifically BEAST
      software) are particularly encouraged to apply.
  *   Fluency in R, python, or another programming language is
      essential.
  *   Experience working with genomic data from pathogens (especially
      RNA viruses, e.g., influenza A virus) is essential.
  *   Applicants must possess good communication skills and be prepared
      to work collaboratively on a fast-paced team of international
      scientists to inform time-sensitive outbreak responses.

Disclaimer/Fine Print

U.S. citizens and permanent residents are eligible to apply. NIH
welcomes foreign nationals with the exception of individuals from
this list
<https://www.state.gov/countries-of-particular-concern-special-watch-list-countries-entities-of-particular-concern/>.

"Nelson, Martha (NIH/NLM) [E]" <nelsonma@mail.nih.gov>

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