Postdoctoral Fellow in Biology
Harvard University School of Public Health
United States

The Grad Lab at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health invites creative and motivated researchers to apply for a postdoctoral fellowship position in our computational team.

The successful candidate will use and develop pathogen genomics and bioinformatics tools in collaboration with our wet lab molecular microbiological and experimental genetics team to work on large microbial genomics datasets. This includes addressing the pathogenesis, biology, and evolution of the important human pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the cause of the sexually transmitted disease gonorrhea and one of the most common bacterial infections worldwide, and work on datasets from other pathogens that incorporates questions about within-host and population-level dynamics.

Multiple projects are available focusing on antimicrobial resistance; bacterial host/pathogen interactions; and/or bacterial evolution, including the development and application of innovative population genetics approaches to genomic datasets from diverse bacterial isolates collected from patient specimens.

The Grad Lab is focused on the evolution, spread, and biology of infectious diseases, with a particular focus on Neisseria gonorrhoeae as a roadmap to address the challenges of antimicrobial resistance. Our team, comprising researchers, postdocs, and graduate students, uses and develops innovative methods in experimental genetics and microbiology, genomics, and infectious diseases epidemiology to study the public health threat posed by microbial pathogens. To learn more about the Grad lab, please see https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/grad-lab/.

Successful candidates will have the opportunity for professional development through support for attending conferences, giving talks, writing proposals, and mentoring, among other activities.

Education Requirements
Doctoral qualification in a relevant subject (bioinformatics, computational biology, pathogen genomics or a related field).

Technical Skill Requirements
• Strong skills in bioinformatics, microbial genomics, data analysis, and oral and written communication.
• Proficiency with standard bioinformatics / microbial genomics tools and programming languages (e.g. Python, R).
• Highly creative, ability to work independently and as part of a team, and excited to work in a collaborative environment.

Successful candidates will have strong quantitative and analytical skills in the fields of pathogen genomics, pathogen evolutionary biology, or a related discipline and significant research experience and success in publishing papers. Experience with genomics of bacterial pathogens and with using a high-performance computing cluster is useful. Familiarity with population genetics, phylodynamics, genome wide association studies, and/or analysis of transcriptomics datasets are a plus, but not required.

Please contact Yonatan Grad by email: ygrad@hsph.harvard.edu with CV, letter of interest, and names of at least three references.

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.