Computational Biologist, Entry - Oregon Health & Science University

Department Overview:

This position is a member of a computational biology lab in the Knight Cancer Institute. Support investigators in the conduct of original research in service to OHSU’s mission to improve human health, building and leveraging platform-based tools and biological understanding while working in a team-oriented data processing, data analysis and software development environment, working with high-dimensional data (omic, imaging, phenotypic), following best practices such as literature currency, tool benchmarking and code sharing through GitHub. Duties include teamwork, client interaction, cross-core collaboration, code and data management, maintenance and development of tools and pipelines, and support of investigators’ discoveries and scholarly work. This is an excellent opportunity to learn from experienced researchers how to apply data science skills to biomedical science.

Function/Duties of Position:

• Data Management:
  • Wrangle, clean, structure and store investigator data.  Assist in building, populating and/or maintaining a searchable, browsable system storing raw omic and imaging data, sample metadata, data generation and data processing provenance, and custom analysis results.
• Pipelines:
  • Assist platform development teams implementing scalable high-performance workflows to support the research community with analytical advances and to disseminate best practices to the computational community.  Assist with documentation and user support that enable computational researchers across campus to access and re-use analysis pipelines. 
• Tools:
  • Assist with software development, using structured software engineering best practices.  Collaborate with team members in building, publishing and re-using high-performance open-source code.
• Custom Analysis:
  • Employ best practices for omic, imaging and integrative data representation and analysis.  Provide processed data and technical support to biostatisticians and computational scientists, helping to identify technical factors in data generation and processing and supporting development of biological conclusions that drive the next generation of research and advance human health.
• Collaboration:
  • Work with team members to build and maintain common code repository, bioinformatic best practices and team engagement.  Work with investigators to understand and clarify requests, document requirements, communicate ongoing work, assist with interpretation of results and build community.  Work with other cores to collaborate on support of investigator projects and to build and maintain shared workflows and seamless services. 

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree with major courses in field of research. Additional experience in lieu of degree may be considered.
• Demonstrated ability in research related to genomic analysis, machine learning, or image analysis, which may include experience with next-gen sequencing or medical imaging. 
• Demonstrated skills in a high level programming language, preferably Python or R, preferably in Linux or Unix, optionally with Java, C/C++ or GO. 
• Understanding of basic statistics and some of its applications to biomedical science. 
• Experience with structured data storage and with multi-component data processing systems. 
• Experience with architecture or tools for managing “omics” or imaging data. 
• Ability to prioritize multiple tasks at one time. 
• Excellent communication, analytical and organizational skills, both written and verbal. 
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team while being collaborative in resolving problems. 

Preferred Qualifications:

• Masters with major courses in field of research.
• At least 6 months of work experience in a professional, team-oriented computational biology environment.
• High performance computing experience. 

All are welcome:Oregon Health & Science University values a diverse and culturally competent workforce. We are proud of our commitment to being an equal opportunity, affirmative action organization that does not discriminate against applicants on the basis of any protected class status, including disability status and protected veteran status. Individuals with diverse backgrounds and those who promote diversity and a culture of inclusion are encouraged to apply. To request reasonable accommodation contact the Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Department at 503-494-5148 or aaeo@ohsu.edu.