ToxCast Biologist/Toxicologist Support at EPA

Organization
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Reference Code
EPA-SSP-0012-20R-10-20-17
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.
Description

The EPA Environmental Research and Business Support Program has an immediate openings for a ToxCast Biologist/Toxicologist Support position with the Office of Research and Development at the EPA’s Research Triangle 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 ToxCast research project aims to generate data on thousands of chemicals through in vitro, high-throughput testing and use computational techniques to analyze the data and build predictive models. Supporting this effort is a task to build lists of reference chemicals for various in vitro assays to permit analysis of the performance of individual assays.

The selected candidate shall provide literature and database searching, data management, data curation and support to the ToxCast project. This is a combination of file management, data extraction and curation and limited database management. He/she will work with other members of NCCT’s team to maintain this system, quality control entered data, and perform downstream analysis. He/she will be a member of a multi-disciplinary research team and will be trained to support the development, maintenance, and analysis of ToxCast databases.

ToxCast data curation and analysis responsibilities shall include:

  • Conducting literature and database searches,
  • Curating data into a reference chemical database, and
  • Utilizing an ontology system for curation.

Communications-related responsibilities shall 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 candidate may be asked to present work performed as a poster at a scientific conference.

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

Salary: Selected candidate will become a temporary employee of ORAU and will receive an hourly wage of $20.96 for hours worked.

Hours: Full Time

Travel: Occasional overnight travel may be required.

Expected Start Date: The position is full time and expected to begin December 2017/January 2018. The initial project is through May 14, 2018, followed by up to two (2) 12-month optional periods.

Working Conditions: 

The selected applicant shall be supervised by a mentor who will provide day-to-day direction, as well as coach, advise, counsel and review his/her work.  This position will involve work in an administrative setting and is not expected to involve exposure to hazardous elements.

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

Qualifications

Eligible applicants must:

  • Be at least 18 years of age and
  • Have a Bachelor’s Degree in biology, toxicology, chemistry, bioinformatics, computational biology, information science or a closely 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 possess:

  • Demonstrated education and/or experience in toxicology and/or biology,
  • A working knowledge of in vitro assays,
  • A working knowledge of relational databases,
  • Demonstrated experience working in a team environment,
  • Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications (i.e., Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook), PubMed, and
  • Strong written, oral and electronic communication skills.

Desired Knowledge, Skills, Work Experience, and Education

It is desirable for the applicant to possess:

  • MySQL database experience, and
  • R-language programming (or other scripting language) experience.
Eligibility Requirements
  • 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 )
    • Engineering (2 )
    • Environmental and Marine Sciences (1 )
    • Life Health and Medical Sciences (45 )
Affirmation

I certify that I am at least 18 years of age; a recent graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree in biology, toxicology, chemistry, bioinformatics, computational biology, information science or a closely related field of study from an accredited university or college 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.

ORAU is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE AA M/F/Vet/Disability); visit the ORAU website for required employment notices.


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