Sr. Staff Scientist, Biomedical Informatics
ABOUT US: Scripps Research is ranked the most influential institution in the world for its impact on innovation. We expand basic knowledge in the biosciences, and use these fundamental advancements to develop profound innovations that improve wellbeing. Our educational and training programs mold talented and committed students and postdocs into leading edge scientists. Scientists in the institute’s five academic research departments work hand-in-hand with researchers of the Scripps Research Translational Institute and Calibr to merge foundational studies in biology, chemistry and computer science with translational science to produce pioneering drugs and advances in digital and precision medicine. Together, we cultivate new scientific leaders and expand the frontiers of knowledge to deliver medical breakthroughs to better human health around the globe. If you have a passion for making a difference, this could be your opportunity to join our transformative team.
POSITION SUMMARY:
The Senior Staff Scientist, Biomedical Informatics will report to Associate Professor and Director of Genomics at The Scripps Research Translational Institute (SRTI) at Scripps Research to provide practical, creative, and comprehensive solutions to cutting edge problems in combining phenotypic data with human genetics and genomics data at large scale. This role will work with a small team of computational and quantitative biologists on human genomics projects primarily focused on the detection of novel genetic associations, prediction of disease risk from genetic and phenotypic data, and the use of genetic information in precision medicine initiatives.
RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES:
- Drive the design and development of complex analytical pipelines for a wide range of human datasets, including (but not limited to) electronic health records, cohort and clinical trial data, and wearable health sensor data.
- Establish, maintain, and analyze large databases of clinical and patient-generated health data as part of on-going and future research efforts.
- Independently develop new algorithms, techniques, and computational statistical methodologies to analyze datasets.
- Work collaboratively with a diverse and interdisciplinary team of physicians, computer scientists, behaviorists, and biostatisticians to address pressing biomedical questions and needs.
- Develop and maintain computational infrastructure to support analytical needs.
- Generate reports and visualizations to communicate findings to a wide audience.
- Contribute to the development of new research efforts, studies, grants, and publications.
- Perform other related duties as required or assigned.
REQUIREMENTS:
- PhD in biomedical informatics, data science, epidemiology, or related field.
- Minimum 4 years bioinformatics, software development, or related experience, preferably in a high performance computing setting.
- Solid understanding of various phenotype coding standards required, including human phenotype ontology, billing codes, with direct experience with electronic health record data preferred.
- Experience with genomics software packages, BWA, GATK, PLINK, or related packages is required.
- Strong knowledge of and experience with at least one and preferably multiple programming languages, such as (but not limited to) Python, Java, C/C++, Ruby, and JavaScript.
- Knowledge of and experience with one or more statistical programming environments or libraries, such as (but not limited to) R, pandas, and SAS is required.
- Experience with development of machine learning-based predictive algorithms is strongly preferred.
- Experience with architecture and tools for managing large datasets – especially large-scale health data is preferred.
- Experience developing scalable system architectures that adhere to good software engineering principles is a major plus.
- Ability to tackle large, open-ended research questions independently and as part of a team.
- Ability to effectively prioritize workload and multi-task.
- Excellent communication, analytical and organizational skills, both written and verbal. Ability to clearly clearly convey methods and results to provide information to scientific investigators from which researchers can draw conclusions.
Physical Requirements:
This position works in a laboratory or office environment. Further details of the physical requirements of established essential functions for this position will be addressed/discussed during the interview process.
Compensation: Salary commensurate with experience.
EEO Statement:
The Scripps Research Institute is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other legally protected characteristic or status.