Computational Scientist-Longevity and Cancer Research
Company: The Translational Genomics Research Institute
Location: Phoenix
Posted on: June 25, 2022
|
|
Job Description:
Description:
Dr. Nicholas Schork, Director of Quantitative Medicine at TGen,
seeks a creative, independent, and highly motivated researcher
interested in developing and applying novel and comprehensive
quantitative methods for understanding and characterizing the
genetic and molecular determinants of human longevity and longevity
enhancement, through cross-species comparative genomes. Dr. Schork
is one of the two principal investigators (PIs) for the NIA-funded
longevity consortium, whose goal is to characterize the genetic
basis of human longevity, and a co-PI on another NIA-funded
consortium grant to identify genetic targets for
longevity-enhancing interventions. Dr. Schork is also a PI for the
Animal Cancer Foundation-funded canine cancer genomics consortium,
with a goal to characterize the parallels of cancer mutations in
canine and humans, and to improve therapeutic options for human and
pet patients. The methods, analyses, and tools to be developed will
leverage these connections, but go beyond them, in developing
bioinformatic and biostatical analysis methods to identify genetic
longevity-enhancing intervention and cancer-associated targets, and
designing studies to test their effects.Brief Professional
Activities DescriptionThe Computational Scientist will have the
opportunity to perform cross-species comparative analysis of
longevity-associated vertebrate genomes, identify evolutionarily
conserved sequence features, and investigate germline/somatic
mutation drivers for canine-human comparative oncology analysis.
TGen provides a very collaborative environment that includes basic
scientists, computational and quantitative scientists, biomedical
technology developers and clinicians, including those at TGen's
affiliated institution, the City of Hope National Medical Center in
East Los Angeles, as well as its many other partner
institutions.There is tremendous interest in the identification of
factors that affect human longevity and potential interventions
that enhance humanlongevity. Unfortunately, human longevity is a
complex, multifactorial phenotype with a number of interacting
genetic and non-genetic determinants. Characterizing the factors
influencing longevity will be difficult since the effect of any one
factor can be obscured by the effects of others. As a result, more
sophisticated and integrated approaches are needed. This is true
for both the identification and characterization of
longevity-enhancing factors and testing longevity-enhancing
interventions that target these factors. A research challenge will
be to develop reliable techniques for mining data relevant to
genetically-mediated factors (for example from genome-wide
association studies focusing on longevity) and cross-species
studies to identify better longevity-enhancing intervention
targets, as well as methods to test interventions that exploit
those targets. In this context, the proposed activity and research
will involve:Performing cross-species comparative analysis of
vertebrate genomes including human, canine, and other
speciesIdentifying evolutionarily conserved genes/proteins,
functional elements, non-coding sequences, through orthology,
synteny, and pangenome approachesIdentifying germline and somatic
mutation drivers, coding and non-coding, and mutation signatures in
canine cancersPerforming canine-human comparative oncology analysis
and identifying therapeutic targetsPresenting findings on
cross-species comparative genomics and canine cancer at major
conferences and in peer-reviewed publicationsTGen has access to
resources (such as one of the largest and fastest computing systems
in the world, a large phase I clinical trial center, genomic and
other omic assay-oriented labs) that can be leveraged in the
proposed research. In addition, the development of the proposed
strategies and methods will likely have a broad, international
impact, given the amount of attention human longevity research is
receiving, so the research to be pursued will be highly visible and
competitive, and as a result could propel the career of an
independently-minded researcher looking to make an indelible impact
on biomedical science and humanity in general.
Requirements:
Ph.D. in Bioinformatics, Computer Science, Systems Biology,
Computational or Quantitative Biology, Biostatistics, Statistics,
Applied Mathematics, or a related field.Computer programming, R and
other statistical analysis packages, and scripting languages
skillsDemonstrated 5+ years of experience in genomics and NGS
long/short read sequencing technologiesExperience with large
biological data setsExcellent written and verbal communication
skills, willingness to work in collaborative settingsHow to ApplyIf
you are interested in seeing the most up to date job listings or to
apply for this position, please go to
https://www.tgen.org/careers-tgen/andsubmit your resume. Please
take a moment to read about our employee benefits and learn more
about TGen. If you have any questions aboutthe company or how to
apply for a position, please contact hr@tgen.org.Only resumes
submitted through the TGen career website will be considered.We
value and support diversity in our workforce. About Our
OrganizationTranslational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) is a
Phoenix, Arizona-based non-profit organization dedicated to
conducting groundbreaking research with life changing results. TGen
is focused on helping patients with neurological disorders, cancer,
and diabetes, through cutting edge translational research (the
process of rapidly moving research towards patient benefit). TGen
physicians and scientists work to unravel the genetic components of
both common and rare complex diseases in adults and children.
Working with collaborators in the scientific and medical
communities literally worldwide, TGen makes a substantial
contribution to help our patients through efficiency and
effectiveness of the translational process. TGen is allied with
City of Hope, a world-renowned independent research and cancer and
diabetes treatment center. This precision medicine alliance enables
both institutes to complement each other in research and patient
care, with City of Hope providing a significant clinical setting to
advance scientific discoveries made by TGen. For more information,
visit: www.tgen.org.PM21PI183140294
Keywords: The Translational Genomics Research Institute, Phoenix , Computational Scientist-Longevity and Cancer Research, Other , Phoenix, Arizona
Click
here to apply!
|