The EPA Environmental Research and Business Support Program has an immediate opening for an EPA Toxicity Data Support Associate with the Office of Research and Development at the EPA Research Triangle Park facility in Raleigh-Durham, NC.

The Office of Research and Development at the EPA supports high-quality research to improve the scientific basis for decisions on national environmental issues and help EPA achieve its environmental goals. Research is conducted in a broad range of environmental areas by scientists in EPA laboratories and at universities across the country.

The National Center for Computational Toxicology (NCCT) is responsible for developing computational tools and solutions for improving environmental risk assessments and regulatory decisions pertaining to chemical safety and sustainability. The NCCT Toxicity Reference Database (ToxRefDB) research project aims to store and analyze legacy in vivo toxicology data. Supporting this effort are various efforts at further curating studies in the database with detailed quantitative information as well as performing more detailed data quality assessments. The team is seeking one individual, at least 18 years of age who have completed a Bachelor’s degree, preferably in biology, toxicology, chemistry, bioinformatics, statistics, computational biology, math, physics, information science, or a related field of study, to provide data management, curation and analytical support to the ToxRefDB project. This effort is expected to begin approximately June 2016.

The selected applicant shall provide data management, data curation and data analysis support to the ToxRefDB project. This is a combination of limited MySQL database management, file management, data curation and extraction, quality control, as well as performing qualitative and quantitative data analysis. The applicant will work with other members of NCCT’s team to maintain this system, quality control entered data, and perform downstream analysis. The applicant will be a member of a multi-disciplinary research team and will be trained to support the development, maintenance, and analysis of ToxRefDB.

ToxRefDB data curation and analysis will include:

• Maintaining quality control of entered data (data entered by third party),
• Running automated data quality tests,
• Curating data into ToxRefDB,
• Developing analysis tools for exploring and visualizing ToxRefDB data,
• Developing scripts to provide reports on the data,
• Developing analysis methods for performing dose response modeling, and
• Developing models that explore the relationship between in vivo, in vitro and in silico datasets.

Communications-related responsibilities will include:

• Participating as a member of a multi-disciplinary research team,
• Interacting with other members of the development team as well as EPA scientists, and
• Documenting code and database development efforts.

The selected applicant may be asked to present work performed at a scientific conference.

Location: This job will be located at EPA’s Research Triangle facility in Raleigh-Durham, NC.

Salary: Selected applicants will become temporary employees of ORAU and will receive an hourly wage of $20.34 for hours worked.

Travel: Occasional overnight travel may be required.

Expected Start Date: The position is full time and expected to begin June 2016. The initial project is through May 14, 2017, followed by up to three (3) 12-month optional periods.

For more information, contact EPAjobs@orau.org. Do not contact EPA directly.

Eligible applicants must:

• Be at least 18 years of age and
• Have earned a Bachelor’s degree, preferably in biology, toxicology, chemistry, bioinformatics, statistics, computational biology, math, physics, information science, or a related field of study, from an accredited university or college within the last 24 months and
• Be a citizen of the United States of America or a Legal Permanent Resident.

EPA ORD employees, their spouses, and children are not eligible to participate in this program.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Work Experience, and Education

The applicant shall:

• Have demonstrate education and/or experience in toxicology and/or biology,
• Have working knowledge of in vivo toxicology studies,
• Have working knowledge of relational databases,
• Have demonstrated leadership skills and have experience working in teams, and
• Have strong written, oral and electronic communication skills.

Desired Expertise, Skills, Education, and/or Experience

It is desirable for the applicant to possess:

• Proficiency in biology concepts with experience in chemical biology and toxicology, 
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications (i.e., Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook), desktop publishing, and the Internet,
• Experience with R-language programming (or other scripting language), and
• Experience with MySQL database.

How to apply:

Submit application and supporting documents by clicking on Apply Now button.

For more information, contact EPAjobs@orau.org. Do not contact EPA directly

• Citizenship: LPR or U.S. Citizen
• Degree: Bachelor's Degree, Master's Degree, or Doctoral Degree received within the last 24 month(s).
• Discipline(s):
  • Chemistry and Materials Sciences (12 )
  • Computer, Information, and Data Sciences (16 )
  • Environmental and Marine Sciences (1 )
  • Life Health and Medical Sciences (45 )
  • Mathematics and Statistics (10 )
  • Physics (16 )

I certify that I am at least 18 years of age; a recent graduate with a Bachelor’s degree, preferably in biology, toxicology, chemistry, bioinformatics, statistics, computational biology, math, physics, information science, or a related field of study within the last 24 months; a citizen or a Legal Permanent Resident of the United States of America; and not a current employee of EPA ORD or the spouse or child of an EPA ORD employee.