Postdoctoral Fellow

Mass General Brigham • Boston, MA

5d • $71,750 - $79,199 • Onsite

About The Position

We are seeking a highly motivated postdoctoral fellow to join the Wohl Lab at Brigham and Women’s Hospital at Harvard Medical School. The position will focus on developing and evaluating sampling strategies for pathogen genomic surveillance, and on collaborating with international stakeholders to analyze pathogen genomic data. The Wohl lab uses genomic techniques to understand the evolution and spread of disease-causing human pathogens, conducting research at the intersection of infectious disease epidemiology, theoretical methods, and public health. We aim to harness the full potential of sequencing data to understand and combat human pathogens through empirical study and methodological innovation. This involves working towards a more complete understanding of the evolutionary mechanisms of both viral and bacterial disease-causing pathogens, and also includes developing better ways to account for sampling biases in phylogenetic and other analytical results. We are also passionate about ensuring that sequencing capacity and study design expertise are in the hands of local public health experts who are best positioned to take actionable steps towards responding to pathogen threats. The selected postdoctoral candidate will also work closely with the Grad Lab at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Requirements

• Ph.D. in infectious disease epidemiology, computational biology, applied statistics or mathematics, or similar. Pending doctoral degrees will also be considered.
• Experience in transmission dynamics modeling of infectious diseases, pathogen genomics, bioinformatics, and/or applied statistics.
• Strong programming skills in scripting languages such as Python and/or analysis tools such as R.
• Experience with next-generation sequencing data or phylogenetic analysis AND/OR experience applying statistical methods to study design, population dynamics modeling, or population genetics.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work as part of multi-disciplinary teams and international collaborations.

Responsibilities

• Develop, simulate, and evaluate genomic sampling and analysis strategies.
• Develop a simulation framework for pathogen transmission and apply this framework to evaluate the epidemiological information gained under different genomic sampling scenarios.
• Engage with international stakeholders to identify priority public health pathogens and evaluate plausible genomic surveillance strategies.
• Leverage AI tools to build pathogen genomic datasets from publicly available data and metadata.
• Guide the development of accessible tools for genomic surveillance program design.
• Perform and/or support pathogen genomic analyses conducted in public health settings.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree