Medical Research Council/ Uganda Virus Research Institute (MRC/UVRI) Uganda Senior Bioinformatician Job Vacancy in Uganda

Organization: Medical Research Council/ Uganda Virus Research Institute (MRC/UVRI)
Uganda
Duty Station: Entebbe, Uganda
Reports to: Unit Director Project
About MRC/UVRI:
The MRC/UVRI Uganda Virus Research Unit on AIDS
conducts large-scale epidemiological and intervention studies, clinical trials,
virological and immunological research and behavioural studies, and has
generated a wealth of research results that have been used to inform policy and
practice, and that have led to a large number of scientific publications in
peer reviewed journals over time.
The MRC/UVRI with the Sang

er Institute is setting up
the MRC/UVRI Ugandan Medical Informatics Centre (UMIC) that will be located at
the UVRI campus in Entebbe. It will be closely associated with the Ugandan
Ministry of Health and other educational and research Institutes in Uganda, as
well as pan-African research centres as part of established collaborations with
MRC/UVRI. The central aims of this project are: (1) to develop a medical
informatics in Uganda and (2) to develop human research capacity in medical
informatics and computational genomics in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in
collaboration with UK and SSA centres. The UMIC is being developed to
capitalise on technological advances in genomics and to ensure the efficient
utilisation of data resources in clinical epidemiology and large scale genomics
across SSA from on-going research programmes.

Job Summary: The Senior Bioinformatician will be responsible for maintaining  complex databases for phenotype and genotype
data and to design implement and maintain analysis pipelines to carry out
analysis of human and pathogen genome sequencing data. The post holder will be
required to collate, clean, and harmonise data from various sources, perform
some analyses for QC purposes, as well as to help identify scientific
priorities and contribute to some applied analyses. The incumbent will also,
among other tasks, prepare and analyse large genetic and phenotypic datasets,
as well as manage collaborative relationships within the frame of large
international consortia. In addition another primary objective will be training
and supporting international researchers in large-scale genome analyses. The
Senior Bioinformatician will be accountable for overseeing and enabling
bioinformatics analyses undertaken by the UMIC and for maintaining and
developing pipelines for the UMIC scientific programs.
Key Duties and
Responsibilities: 
  • Designs and implements high-quality,
    high-throughput computational pipelines for genome-analysis
  • Keeps up with the developments in technology and
    statistical genetics, and adapts to these rapidly in order to ensure the
    highest standard of data generation
  • Oversees large-scale whole-genome and whole-exome
    datasets
  • Assists in the development of new methods, or
    improving on existing methods to create solutions to problems, if needed.
  • Technically supports researchers and other
    bioinformaticians within the UMIC and internationally
  • Contributes to analyses of large-scale next
    generation sequencing datasets, genome-wide association analyses of common
    and rare variants and meta-analyses in a high-quality, time-sensitive
    environment.
  • Interprets, and contributes to the design of
    computational tools and statistical analysis plans for complex trait
    analysis.
  • Prepares high-quality data reports and drafts of
    manuscripts for publication
  • Presents work at international meetings.
  • Communicate with collaborators effectively.
  • Oversees large-scale datasets of sequencing,
    clinical and other types of data, including cleansing and curation of data
    and facilitating deposition and access of data to and from the Medical
    Informatics Centre.
  • Coordinates and works with the international
    research community to facilitate data exchange, large-scale analytical
    efforts and exchange of expertise.
Qualifications,
Skills and Experience: 
  • The ideal candidate should possess a bachelor’s
    degree in Computer science, Statistics, natural Sciences, Maths or have a
    degree in another subject coupled with extensive experience working with
    quantitative data.
  • Proven understanding and experience in the fields
    of genomics, data processing, high-through put data analysis, and genomic
    databases. Understanding of genome structure a must.
  • Significant experience providing advice, training
    and support to other researchers in the areas of bioinformatics and data
    analysis.
  • Detailed knowledge and understanding of
    univariate statistical analysis fundamentals necessary.
  • Experience with multivariate statistics or
    statistical modelling a plus.
  • Candidates should have knowledge of leading NGS
    processing techniques for the identification of SNPs and structural
    variants.
  • Strong computational and data management skills
    and experience, particularly in data parsing, cleansing, data modelling,
    analysis, and database design and implementation.
  • Detailed knowledge and experience working in a
    unix/linux environment.
  • Demonstrated programming skills in shell
    scripting (e.g. bash, tcsh), interpreted/scripting languages (e.g. Perl,
    Python, R)
  • Substantial experience working within
    international consortia and effectively facilitating research within this
    environment.
  • Possess the ability to review, synthesize, and
    present scientific data and methods.
  • Good written and verbal communication skills.
  • The ability to present methodologies and results
    succinctly
  • Possess the ability to anticipate needs and
    problems while creating solutions.
  • Possess the ability to work within a team, and to
    provide advice, training and support to other researchers.
  • Possession of a PhD in computer science,
    computational biology, biostatistics, bioinformatics, or similar fields is
    desired although not strictly necessary.
  • Practical experience processing NGS data is a
    plus.
  • All candidates would ideally be familiar with the
    capabilities and limitations of NGS platforms and informatics pipelines,
    so that data can be appropriately integrated into analyses.
  • Past exposure and experience with cluster
    computing is a plus.
  • Programming skills in compiled language(s) (e.g.
    Java, C, C++) is an advantage
How to Apply:
All candidates should send their applications
including copies of academic qualifications, curriculum vitae and names plus
telephone contact details of three (3) referees should either be addressed to:
The Human Resources Manager, MRC/UVRI Uganda Research Unit on AIDS, Uganda
Virus Research Institute, P. O Box 49 Entebbe, Uganda or send by email:
recruitment@mrcuganda.org
NB: Only short listed candidates will be contacted for interviews
Deadline: 1st
August 2014 by 5pm
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