FDA Foodborne Genomics & Bioinformatics Fellowship

Organization
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Reference Code
FDA-CFSAN-2021-0003
How to Apply

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A complete application consists of:

All documents must be in English or include an official English translation.

If you have questions, send an email to ORISE.FDA.CFSAN@orau.org. Please include the reference code for this opportunity in your email.

Application Deadline
12/22/2020 3:00:00 PM Eastern Time Zone
Description

*Applications will be reviewed on a rolling-basis.

A research opportunity is currently available at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), Office of Analytics and Outreach (OAO), Biostatistics Branch, with the Analytics Team located in College Park, Maryland.

To fulfill the Office of Analytics and Outreach's mission to "...make science useful and accessible so that the Center, Industry, and Consumers make informed decisions," the Analytics Team uses large-scale whole-genome sequence data to inform industry, scientists, regulators, policy-makers, and the general public about the presence of foodborne pathogens in the nation's food supply chain. The primary research focus of the participant will be on the analysis of the genome sequence database as a means to 1) better quantify the genomic diversity associated with foodborne pathogens and 2) generate scientific criteria for detecting and prioritizing illness outbreaks for follow-up investigations. The fellow will support microbiologists in the analysis of data from sequencing projects. The participant is also encouraged to develop an independent research project that furthers the groups mission.

This fellowship will serve as a unique opportunity for a fellow to learn about the application of whole-genome sequencing to food safety. In addition, the participant will learn valuable techniques for managing and analyzing large-scale genome sequence data. The participant will have the opportunity to learn about different methods and algorithms for evolutionary genomics.

CFSAN and the Biostatistics Branch is a vibrant community of specialists from a number of different disciplines (e.g., epidemiologists, chemists, microbiologists, biostatisticians, and bioinformaticians), providing ample opportunities for networking and growth. The participant will also have the opportunity to participate in national and international conferences.

Anticipated Appointment Start Date: November 1, 2020

This program, administered by ORAU through its contract with the U.S. Department of Energy to manage the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, was established through an interagency agreement between DOE and FDA. The initial appointment is for one year, but may be renewed upon recommendation of FDA contingent on the availability of funds. The participant will receive a monthly stipend commensurate with educational level and experience. Proof of health insurance is required for participation in this program. The appointment is full-time at FDA in the College Park, Maryland area. Participants do not become employees of FDA, DOE or the program administrator, and there are no employment-related benefits.

Completion of a successful background investigation by the Office of Personnel Management is required for an applicant to be on-boarded at FDA.  OPM can complete a background investigation only for individuals, including non-US Citizens, who have resided in the US for a total of three of the past five years.

FDA requires ORISE participants to read and sign their FDA Education and Training Agreement within 30 days of his/her start date, setting forth the conditions and expectations for his/her educational appointment at the agency.  This agreement covers such topics as the following:

  • Non-employee nature of the ORISE appointment;
  • Prohibition on ORISE Fellows performing inherently governmental functions;
  • Obligation of ORISE Fellows to convey all necessary rights to the FDA regarding intellectual property conceived or first reduced to practice during their fellowship;
  • The fact that research materials and laboratory notebooks are the property of the FDA;
  • ORISE fellow’s obligation to protect and not to further disclose or use non-public information.
Qualifications

The qualified candidate should have received a doctoral degree in one of the relevant fields. Degree must have been received within five years of the appointment start date.

Preferred skills:

  • Familiarity with genome sequence data (e.g., assembly, annotation, phylogenetics, and evolutionary analysis)
  • Read sequencing preprocessing and quality assessment
  • Proficiency in a computer language such as R, Python, or Perl
  • Experience with High-Performance Computing Clusters (HPCCs)
  • Experience with population genetics, phylogenetics, and phylogenomics
Eligibility Requirements
  • Citizenship: LPR or U.S. Citizen
  • Degree: Doctoral Degree received within the last 60 month(s).
  • Discipline(s):
    • Environmental and Marine Sciences (2 )
    • Life Health and Medical Sciences (2 )
    • Social and Behavioral Sciences (1 )
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