Bioinformatics/Computational Biology Drug Discovery Research Scientist

Position Information

University Code 33244 University Title Senior Scientist 1 University Job Family Research & Innovation ORP Eligible Yes For more information on ORP, visit: Retirement Plans
Recruitment Pool All Applicants Recruitment Type Job Series Scope of Search Regional Working Title Bioinformatics/Computational Biology Drug Discovery Research Scientist Position Number 591990 Is this employee on a H1B Visa? Position Type Staff Job Status Full-Time FLSA Indicator Exempt Employee Group University Employee Department Pharmacology & Toxicology Organizational Overview

At VCU, we Make it Real through learning, research, creativity, service and discovery — the hallmarks of the VCU experience. A premier, urban, public research university nationally recognized as one of the best employers for diversity, VCU is a great place to work. It’s a place of opportunity, where your success is supported and your career can thrive. VCU offers employees a generous leave package, career paths for advancement, competitive pay, and an opportunity to do mission-driven work.

Position Primary Purpose and General Responsibilities

Senior Research Scientist position in Bioinformatics/Drug Discovery in the cancer area is available in the laboratory of Dr. Said Sebti in the Massey Cancer Center at the Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. The candidate must have a proven track record in bioinformatics as it relates to genome/proteome-scale research including differential gene/protein expression, protein phosphorylation, pathway analysis to support Dr. Sebti’ s drug discovery projects. The candidate will also participate in performing experiments to understand the mechanism of action of anti-cancer drugs. The research focus of Dr. Sebti’ laboratory is to understand at the basic science level how normal cells become malignant and to translate such fundamental knowledge to the clinic. Specifically, the candidates will be involved in exciting and highly integrated inter-disciplinary research projects concerning understanding aberrant oncogenic KRas signal transduction pathways in cancer and designing novel anti-cancer drugs based on this knowledge.
The candidate will be responsible for: Experimental design and analysis of genome/proteome-scale research including differential gene/protein expression, protein phosphorylation, pathway analysis; analysis and interpretation of high-dimensional data, including genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic datasets; using R and/or Python, Linux and cloud computing systems to develop robust statistical methods and algorithms and drive data mining efforts; RNA -seq data analysis to generate gene clusters using a combination of dimensionality reduction analysis (t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t- SNE ) and Fuzzy C-means; Gene Set Enrichment Analysis ( GSEA ) use to identify initial gene clusters whose expression can be corelated to phenotypes; query the up-regulated and down-regulated clusters using Enrichr to build consensus pathways identified using ENCODE, GO, KEGG, and other pathway analysis tools to generate signal transduction pathways associated with phenotypes; Proteomics and phospho-proteomics data analysis with MaxQuant, normalization and statistical evaluation prior to NetworKIN and GeneGO/Metacore pathway analysis; Phospho-proteomics data normalization with IRON ; Assessing data quality using principal component analysis ( PCA ); using MSigDB to perform pathway/signature enrichment with Fisher’s exact tests on lists of differentially expressed phosphosite and using NetworkIN to identify potential kinases involved; manage research projects, and analyze and interpret data, make conclusions and plan forward; maintain detailed documentation through electronic and notebook means and writing progress reports and manuscripts for peer-reviewed publications; work independently as well as efficiently within the research group as a team player.

Minimum Hiring Standards

MS and/or PhD degree in Bioinformatics, Computational biology or a closely related field with 2+ years’ significant research experience in the fields of bioinformatics, computational biology, systems biology, proteomics and/or genomics.

Candidate must have a demonstrated commitment to diversity or a commitment to do so as a staff member at VCU .

Preferred Hiring Standards

Experience in the cancer research field and/or drug discovery.

Required Licenses/ Certifications Anticipated Hiring Range Commensurate with experience Application Process/Additional Information Campus MCV Campus Hours/Week 40 Normal Work Days/Hours M-F Job Open Date 03/15/2021 Posting will close on or before Open Until Filled Yes Job Category Research Is this a restricted position? Yes Is this position eligible to participate in alternative work arrangements? No Sensitive Position Yes- A pre-employment fingerprint background check will be required. Resource Critical No Quick Link https://www.vcujobs.com/postings/104270 Posting Specific Questions

Required fields are indicated with an asterisk (*).

Optional & Required Documents
Required Documents

1. Cover Letter/Letter of Application
2. Curriculum Vitae (CV)

Optional Documents

1. Other Document
2. Reference Letter - 1
3. Reference Letter - 2
4. Reference Letter - 3
5. Publications