Bioinformatics Specialist
Stowers Institute for Medical Research
Summary
The Stowers Institute has an opening for a Bioinformatics Specialist to assist the Computational Biology core facility with biological data processing and analysis. The Bioinformatics Specialist will use computational tools to process, transform, visualize, and analyze datasets primarily derived from high-throughput sequencing experiments. We are seeking an intellectually curious and motivated individual who will thrive in a collaborative, biology-driven team environment.
Job description
Key Responsibilities
- Use R and Python to analyze and visualize high-throughput next-generation sequencing (NGS) data, from raw reads through downstream interpretation
- Create analysis reports to organize results and share them with collaborators
- Follow group best practices to maintain reproducibility and organize results
Minimum Requirements
- Masters degree in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, or a related computationally oriented discipline
- Demonstrated experience in NGS data analysis, including quality control, alignment, and downstream interpretation
- Experience working in a Unix/Linux environment
- Interest in exploring and using generative AI
- Basic understanding of and interest in Biology
Preferred Skills
- Experience with a range of NGS applications (e.g., (sc)RNA-seq, ATAC-seq)
- Experience with Bioconductor packages and Shiny
- Experience with Python
- Experience with cluster computing (Especially slurm)
The ideal candidate will have strong problem-solving abilities, excellent communication and organization skills, good attention to detail, biological interest and curiosity, and the ability to manage multiple projects effectively.
Requirements
- Masters degree in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, or a related computationally oriented discipline
- Demonstrated experience in NGS data analysis, including quality control, alignment, and downstream interpretation
- Experience working in a Unix/Linux environment
- Interest in exploring and using generative AI
- Basic understanding of and interest in Biology
- Experience with a range of NGS applications (e.g., (sc)RNA-seq, ATAC-seq)
- Experience with Bioconductor packages and Shiny
- Experience with Python
- Experience with cluster computing (Especially slurm)
- Strong problem-solving abilities
- Excellent communication and organization skills
- Good attention to detail
- Ability to manage multiple projects effectively
Company overview
The Stowers Institute for Medical Research is a premier non-profit biomedical research organization founded in 2000 by Jim and Virginia Stowers, dedicated to advancing human health through fundamental biological research. Based in Kansas City, Missouri, the institute operates with a unique financial model as the majority stakeholder of American Century Investments, receiving over 40% of the company's annual profits to fund its research activities. This innovative funding structure allows scientists to pursue bold, curiosity-driven research without the constraints of traditional grant-seeking, enabling them to tackle foundational questions about life processes. The institute houses approximately 500 employees, including 20 independent research programs and over a dozen technology-development and core facilities. Research focuses on diverse areas including development and regeneration, evolutionary biology, genetics and genomics, molecular and cellular biology, neuroscience, and systems biology. Stowers scientists study a wide range of organisms from planarian flatworms and apple snails to zebrafish and sea anemones to understand fundamental biological mechanisms. The institute has established a graduate school offering PhD programs in biology and operates a satellite laboratory at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Through its for-profit spinoff BioMed Valley Discoveries, the institute translates foundational discoveries into potential therapeutic applications, exemplified by the development of romosozumab for osteoporosis treatment.