Position: Bioinformaticist

Ocular Genomics Institute, Massachusetts Eye and Ear and Harvard Medical School

A talented bioinformaticist with experience in genomics is sought to join the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Bioinformatics Center (MBC) of the Ocular Genomics Institute (OGI) at Mass Eye and Ear (MEE) and Harvard Medical School. The mission of the OGI is to improve our understanding of the genetic causes of inherited eye diseases, and develop genetically informed therapies to prevent vision loss from these disorders. MEE is a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, and is an international leader for treatment and research in both Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology. The MBC conducts genetic and genomic research while also providing bioinformatics expertise to other clinical and research programs at MEE. The Center is seeking a motivated and experienced bioinformaticist to help with addressing the associated computing and analysis needs. The candidate will apply bioinformatics principles and methods to assist scientists in analyzing, filtering, and processing next-generation sequencing (NGS), genotyping array, and other omics data. This is a multifaceted position with responsibilities in software development and support, human genetics and genomic research, database development, and task management. The ideal candidate should have strong computational and programming skills, solid statistical background, and experience with large-scale data analysis, such as whole genome and exome sequencing data, and be excited to contribute to advancing the science and medicine of eye disease.

Specific responsibilities

• Develop custom bioinformatic tools to analyze data from genomics experiments, and perform bioinformatics analyses.

• Development and maintenance of bioinformatics pipelines, including those on the OGI High Performance Compute cluster and cloud-based systems such as Terra.

• Perform statistical genetic analyses of whole exome and whole genome sequencing data of eye disease to detect pathogenic variants and genes.

• Design and facilitate the maintenance of databases used to process and analyze genomic and RNA-seq data.

• Work closely with other computational and experimental scientists to design experiments.

• Assist with management of the OGI high performance cluster (HPC) in collaboration with the Mass General Brigham data center team. Install, maintain and update required bioinformatic software and databases.

• Help maintain collaborations with other research groups, such as the Data Science Platform at the Broad Institute.

• Provide bioinformatics and computational help, training and advice to lab researchers as needed.

Minimum Education and Experience

• PhD Degree in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Statistical Genetics, Computer Science, or a related quantitative discipline, and 3+ years of related work experience required. MSc degree with extensive experience in genomic or other omic research will be considered.

• Strong programming skills and in-depth experience with several programming languages, such as Python, R, Perl, or C++.

• Experience with Unix/Linux environments, including shell scripting and High Performance Computing (HPC) cluster usage.

• Experience in applying rigorous statistical methods to large-scale biological data, such as next-generation sequencing data.

• Demonstrate independent and critical thinking, rigorous work, and ability to meet deadlines.

• Strong personal skills, and excellent organization and verbal and written communication skills.

Desired Experience

• Background in computational genomics, statistical genetics, or machine learning.

• Analyses involving large, publicly-available genomic datasets (e.g. gnomAD, GTEx).

• Experience using cloud-based computing resources.

Work Environment

The lab is located in the main hospital building of Mass Eye and Ear at 243 Charles Street, in a standard research and office work space that is part of MEE’s Ocular Genomics Institute. The bioinformaticist will work amongst other computational biologists and computer scientists in the Bioinformatics Center of the OGI, and will be part of a larger multidisciplinary research community, which includes geneticists, clinical scientists, and experimental biologists. There are abundant opportunities to interact with other MEE research groups and the vibrant community at the the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.

Interested candidates should send their CV, a cover letter, and contact information for 3 references to:

Dr. Eric A Pierce and Dr. Ayellet Segre Ocular Genomics Institute Mass Eye and Ear 243 Charles St Boston, MA 02114

Eric_Pierce at meei.harvard.edu & Ayellet_Segre at meei.harvard.edu

Massachusetts Eye and Ear is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer.