Research Assistant

Temple University • Philadelphia, PA

7d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Research Assistant in the College of Science & Technology’s Biology division will perform research in collaboration with the Boni Lab focused on mathematical modeling of response strategies to the current urgent problem in Africa of responding to the recent (2020-2021) emergence of artemisinin resistance on the continent. These mathematical models are used to evaluate different response strategies when drug resistance levels are too high. The Research Assistant will also support advanced evolutionary modeling efforts to refine estimates of drug-resistance mutation rates in Plasmodium falciparum. This includes working with whole-genome sequencing data, identifying non-recombinant genomic regions, and contributing to the development of time-calibrated phylogenetic analyses to improve parameterization of mutation rates under selective (non-neutral) conditions. These efforts will directly inform model accuracy for forecasting artemisinin resistance emergence, particularly in African settings. Performs other duties as assigned. Our research group is currently building national-level mathematical models of malaria transmission for several African countries to forecast their drug-resistance situations several years into the future.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in biology or any computational field like statistics, applied math, data science, or engineering (or other relevant field)
• Six months of related research experience
• An equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered.

Responsibilities

• Data management, coding, statistics, data visualization, scientific computation
• Reading global health literature
• Assembling data sets on current global state of malaria drug resistance
• Assembling national-level data sets on current antimalarial drug use
• Geospatial parameterization of malaria data using ArcGIS
• Mathematical modeling of infectious disease spread
• Web development for visualization of modeling results
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• A hybrid work schedule
• Full medical, dental, vision coverage
• Paid time off
• 11 Paid Holidays (including the day after Thanksgiving & winter break)
• Tuition remission - eligible employees and their dependents can obtain a degree TUITION FREE
• A generous retirement plan

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Number of Employees: 1-10 employees