USDA-ARS Postdoctoral Fellowship in Computational Biology and Genomics for Exploring Host-Pathogen Interactions

*Applications are reviewed on a rolling-basis.

ARS Office/Lab and Location: A research opportunity is currently available with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), located in Ames, Iowa.

The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific in-house research agency with a mission to find solutions to agricultural problems that affect Americans every day from field to table. ARS will deliver cutting-edge, scientific tools and innovative solutions for American farmers, producers, industry, and communities to support the nourishment and well-being of all people; sustain our nation’s agroecosystems and natural resources; and ensure the economic competitiveness and excellence of our agriculture. The vision of the agency is to provide global leadership in agricultural discoveries through scientific excellence. This research opportunity will be part of the MaizeGDB Database ARS research project within the Corn Insects and Crop Genetics Research Unit and scientists controlling mycotoxin contamination at the Mycotoxin Prevention and Applied Microbiology Research Unit.

Research Project: Under the guidance of mentors, the participant will gain experience in developing tools and datasets to explore the interactomes of Fusarium and various cereal crops including maize, wheat, and barley. The experience will include developing and implementing AI/ML models in Python or R to contribute to the prediction and visualization of host-pathogen protein-protein interactions. The participant will collaborate with scientists and support staff from MaizeGDB and GrainGenes to develop and curate multi-omic datasets. The participant will gain experience on building and testing pipelines for analysis and ensure their integration into a web-based application. Additionally, the participant will collaborate with researchers to integrate experimentally validated protein-protein interactions into the application, enhancing the accuracy and relevance of the predictions. The participant will present updates at scientific conferences and to collaborators, incorporating feedback to improve the tool. Furthermore, the participant will participate in outreach and training opportunities on the modeling approaches for ARS scientists and academic partners.

Learning Objectives: The participant will learn biology associated with genetics, genomics, and breeding as well as statistical and computational methods used in the analysis. There are opportunities for discovery science related both to the underlying biology and to the computational and analytical methods. The participant will undertake collaborative research and interaction with leading scientists in maize, wheat, barley, and Fusarium research. Opportunities for professional development will include interactions with scientists through existing and planned collaborations; and to a broader swath of researchers at scientific meetings, conferences, seminars, and other outreach opportunities. Participation in outreach and leadership roles will be encouraged.

Mentor(s): The mentor for this opportunity is Carson Andorf (carson.andorf@usda.gov). If you have questions about the nature of the research, please contact the mentor(s).

Anticipated Appointment Start Date: 2024. Start date is flexible and will depend on a variety of factors.

Appointment Length: The appointment will initially be for one year, but may be renewed upon recommendation of ARS and is contingent on the availability of funds.

Level of Participation: The appointment is full time.

Participant Stipend: The participant will receive a monthly stipend commensurate with educational level and experience.

Citizenship Requirements: This opportunity is available to U.S. citizens, Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR), and foreign nationals. Non-U.S. citizen applicants should refer to the Guidelines for Non-U.S. Citizens Details page of the program website for information about the valid immigration statuses that are acceptable for program participation.

ORISE Information: This program, administered by ORAU through its contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to manage the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), was established through an interagency agreement between DOE and ARS. Participants do not become employees of USDA, ARS, DOE or the program administrator, and there are no employment-related benefits. Proof of health insurance is required for participation in this program. Health insurance can be obtained through ORISE.

Questions: Please visit our Program Website. After reading, if you have additional questions about the application process, please email ORISE.ARS.Midwest@orau.org and include the reference code for this opportunity.

Qualifications

The qualified candidate should be pursuing or have received a doctoral degree in one of the relevant fields. 

Preferred skills:

• Experience with genetics and genomic data
• Experience with large, diverse datasets and data-mining approaches
• Experience installing and running software programs using the command line
• Familiar with Linux, computational programming, and high-performance computing clusters
• Strong oral and written communication skills

Eligibility Requirements

• Degree: Doctoral Degree.