Research Postdoctoral Fellow, The Rokita Lab

The Rokita Lab at Children's National Hospital is seeking a highly skilled Postdoctoral Fellow to join our team. We are situated within the Center for Cancer and Immunology Research (CCIR) and Brain Tumor Institute. This position will play a critical role in advancing research focused on uncovering oncogenic mechanisms in pediatric brain tumors and identifying novel therapeutic targets.

The role involves close collaboration with researchers and clinicians within both Children's National as well as external partners. The successful candidate will be mentored, lead bioinformatics-driven projects, participate in collaborative activities in the lab and BTI such as code review and/or workshop training, and contribute to grant applications and scientific manuscripts.

Key Responsibilities:

* Lead high-quality bioinformatics analyses on pediatric oncology datasets, including genomic, transcriptomic, and epigenomic data.

* Design and implement downstream analytical workflows for high-throughput data using our GitHub, Docker, and AWS infrastructure, focusing on reproducibility, code efficiency, and scalability.

* Utilize cloud-computing environments (e.g., AWS EC2) and/or high-performance computing (HPC) to support large-scale or memory-intensive analyses.

* Actively and positively participate in sprints and code reviews, ensuring high standards for reproducibility and documentation.

* Engage with multidisciplinary teams, providing bioinformatics expertise to support collaborative research initiatives.

This position will be remote. Candidates should be prepared to share their GitHub handle and present a recent project as part of the interview process.

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The Research Postdoctoral Fellow is a "research trainee" for the purpose of enhancing and developing research competencies in laboratory or clinical research settings and may engage in any of the following activities. The research postdoctoral fellow will assist faculty in the conduct of research and reports to a principal investigator or CNRI Center Director. They may serve in several roles in the laboratory setting, depending on the scientific specialty and needs of the research project supported. They may participate directly in the design and conduct of experiments and therefore need technical knowledge and subject matter expertise encompassing several disciplines, such as molecular and cellular biology, biochemistry, genetics, physiology or animal science, as well as epidemiology, health services research, clinical research, trial design and human subjects protection, as applicable to the focus of the lab. Based on experience, the research postdoctoral fellow may train staff, graduate students and others in experimental procedures and study execution. The fellow will exercise general supervision in the workspace and assist with data management and analysis. In addition, the research postdoc fellow will be responsible for assisting the principal investigator in the planning and execution of research projects, grant applications and publications. They may further assist in the management of resource allocations, and may manage day-to-day activities for the research project, such as purchasing, oversight of laboratory animals, radioactivity and biosafety issues or human subjects enrollment and protection and regulatory reporting. The individual may also guide or lead the work of peers, technicians or other research support staff as necessary to achieve specific assignments or complete large and complex projects.

Required Qualifications:

* Ph.D. in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Quantitative Biology, Cancer Genetics, or related field.

* Expertise in Bash and either R or Python.

* Proficiency with cloud-based or high-performance computing environments for bioinformatics workflows.

* Proven experience with multiple genomic data types such as single nucleotide variants (SNVs), copy number variants, fusions, RNA expression, methylation, proteomics, and splicing data.

* Commitment to open science practices, including sharing and collaborating on code, data, and documentation.

* Excellent communication skills and ability to collaborate with other team members.

Preferred Skills:

* Preference will be given to those with cancer biology/genetics bioinformatics experience.

* Experience with tools and best practices for reproducibility such as Git and Docker.

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Minimum Education
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) (Required) Or
Medical Doctor (M.D.) (Required) Or

Required Skills/Knowledge
Completed training in a specialty in a field of research.
Demonstrated potential for successful career in research and related scholarly achievement.

Functional Accountabilities
Responsible Conduct of Research

• Consistently demonstrates adherence to the standards for the responsible conduct of research.

• Plans, conducts and manages research projects within federal and institutional regulations and policies under the direction of the principal investigator.

• Uses research funds and resources appropriately.

• Maintains confidentiality of data as required.

• Meets all annual job-related training and compliance requirements.

Commitment to Research

• Conducts research of significant scientific value in the basic and/or translational science area(s) relevant practice specialty.

• Participates in reviewing manuscripts for peer-reviewed journals.

• Publishes in peer-reviewed, scientific, quality and management journals.

• Submits applications for grants or contracts for funding of research projects.

• Participates in research committees and workshops special interest groups.

Collaborations

• Collaborates effectively with CNRI researchers, external agencies and institutions to develop cooperative research initiatives, promote free discussion, research progress, skills productivity and morale with internal and external colleagues and stakeholders.

Program Support

• Assists the principal investigator in the planning and execution research projects, grant applications and publications.

• May train technical staff, graduate students and others in laboratory procedures, provide general supervision in the laboratory and assist with data management and analysis, based on experience.

• May assist in the management of resource allocations, and may manage day-to-day activities in the laboratory, such as purchasing, oversight of laboratory animals, radioactivity, and biosafety issues.

• May guide or lead the work of peers, technicians or other diverse support staff as necessary to achieve specific assignments or complete large and complex projects.

Organizational Accountabilities
Organizational Accountabilities (Staff)
Organizational Commitment/Identification

• Anticipate and responds to customer needs; follows up until needs are met

Teamwork/Communication

• Demonstrate collaborative and respectful behavior

• Partner with all team members to achieve goals

• Receptive to others' ideas and opinions

Performance Improvement/Problem-solving

• Contribute to a positive work environment

• Demonstrate flexibility and willingness to change

• Identify opportunities to improve clinical and administrative processes

• Make appropriate decisions, using sound judgment

Cost Management/Financial Responsibility

• Use resources efficiently

• Search for less costly ways of doing things

Safety

• Speak up when team members appear to exhibit unsafe behavior or performance

• Continuously validate and verify information needed for decision making or documentation

• Stop in the face of uncertainty and takes time to resolve the situation

• Demonstrate accurate, clear and timely verbal and written communication

• Actively promote safety for patients, families, visitors and co-workers

• Attend carefully to important details - practicing Stop, Think, Act and Review in order to self-check behavior and performance