Senior Computational Research Scientist
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Summary
The Abraham Lab is seeking a Senior Computational Research Scientist to study the role of gene dysregulation and genome organization in pediatric cancers.
Job description
Position Responsibilities
- Lead computationally focused scientific research projects with increasing independence over time.
- Collaborate on project and analysis design under the guidance of multiple invested PIs.
- Set personal task-level priorities across multiple interconnected projects.
- Develop new computational methods, especially pertaining to regulatory circuitry controlling pediatric cancers.
- Apply and integrate field-standard omics pipelines for similar technologies, e.g. ChIP-Seq/CUT&RUN/CUT&TAG, ATAC-seq, HiChIP/HiC, bulk/single-cell RNA-seq.
- Adhere to field and lab standards for data analysis.
- Identify, process, organize, interpret, review, and report relevant data.
- Direct data collection.
- Present research to colleagues within and outside the institution; draft a complex manuscript with minimal supervision, as required.
- Perform other duties as assigned to meet the goals and objectives of the department and institution.
- Maintain regular and predictable attendance, especially in-person attendance at meetings and relevant presentations.
Minimum Education and/or Training
Bachelor's degree in Bioinformatics, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Computer Science, or related field. Master's degree or PhD strongly preferred.
Minimum Experience
Minimum Requirement: Bachelor's degree and 7+ years of relevant experience. Experience Exception: Master's degree and 5+ years of relevant experience (OR) PhD with 2+ years of relevant experience. Rough criteria for this position based on publication output: 1-2 first author papers IF > 10 (or equivalent contribution to other research outputs). Prior experience in computational research techniques and processes. Proven performance in earlier role/comparable role.
Special Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities
Required: Applicants with a PhD in a quantitative and biologically oriented field (computational biology, bioinformatics, systems biology, genetics/genomics, statistics, mathematics, computer science, or related fields) are especially encouraged to apply. Strong candidates from a primarily wet-lab or clinical background who wish to further develop sophisticated quantitative skills will also be considered. Such applications would be strengthened by displaying significant coding experience. Successful candidates will have a track record of scientific productivity, e.g., a first author paper, or a demonstrable contribution to a large project. Experience in chromatin and expression analysis technologies is strongly desired.
Preferred: Experience with applied high-throughput sequencing analysis methods, including but not limited to alignment, coverage quantification, differential coverage statistics, and multi-omic integration.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Bioinformatics, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Computer Science, or related field
- Master's degree or PhD strongly preferred
- Bachelor's degree and 7+ years of relevant experience
- Master's degree and 5+ years of relevant experience
- PhD with 2+ years of relevant experience
- 1-2 first author papers IF > 10 (or equivalent contribution to other research outputs)
- Prior experience in computational research techniques and processes
- Proven performance in earlier role/comparable role
- PhD in a quantitative and biologically oriented field (computational biology, bioinformatics, systems biology, genetics/genomics, statistics, mathematics, computer science, or related fields) especially encouraged
- Significant coding experience
- Track record of scientific productivity, e.g., a first author paper, or a demonstrable contribution to a large project
- Experience in chromatin and expression analysis technologies strongly desired
- Experience with applied high-throughput sequencing analysis methods, including but not limited to alignment, coverage quantification, differential coverage statistics, and multi-omic integration
- Experience building, tailoring, and deploying analysis pipelines using widely available genomic analysis toolkits (e.g. bedtools, samtools, HiCPro)
- Experience managing large numbers of datasets
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills
- Experience in the fundamental understanding of gene expression mechanisms (e.g. transcription factors, enhancers, genome structure, and transcriptional condensates)
- Experience building succinct, clear figures using R
Benefits
- High-performance computing clusters
- Cloud computing environment
- Innovative visualization tools
- Highly automated analytical pipelines
- Mentorship from faculty scientists
- Encouragement for first-author publications
Company overview
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is a world-renowned pediatric research and treatment institution headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, dedicated to advancing cures for childhood cancer and other catastrophic diseases. Founded in 1962 by entertainer Danny Thomas, it stands as the first and only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted exclusively to children. The hospital operates on a unique funding model where families never receive bills for treatment, travel, housing, or food, with costs exceeding $2 billion annually primarily supported by donations through its fundraising organization ALSAC. St. Jude treats approximately 8,600 patients each year from all 50 states and around the world, with a focus on acute lymphoblastic leukemia, brain tumors, sickle cell disease, and infectious diseases. The institution employs over 7,000 staff members and maintains eight affiliate clinics across the United States. Through its St. Jude Global initiative, the hospital shares research and treatment protocols internationally, partnering with more than 350 institutions in over 90 countries. St. Jude has been instrumental in increasing childhood cancer survival rates from 20% in 1962 to over 80% today, while maintaining a robust research program that includes gene therapy, bone marrow transplantation, and precision medicine approaches.