A research opportunity is available for an Associate interested in working on programs for dissecting the immunological response against extremely dangerous pathogens. The overarching goal of this research will be to characterize the humoral and cellular immune response to pathogen infection or vaccination challenge. The research program will include a genomics component (genotyping, transcriptomics, and T Cell Receptor and Antibody VDJ rearrangement genomic characterization) as well as an immunological component (T and B cell characterization and cytokine/chemokine profiling). The overall goal will be to (1) define immunological biomarkers for protection and disease prognosis, (2) develop diagnosis tools, and (3) improve vaccine design. The ideal candidate will be highly motivated, creative, and have a strong record of peer-reviewed scientific publications.

USAMRIID is the lead Department of Defense (DOD) laboratory for biodefense research. USAMRIID—Center for Genomic Sciences (CGS) hosts a wide-variety of research programs, all of which are enhanced by access to excellent BSL-3/4 biocontainment facilities for work with highly infectious bacterial and viral pathogens, as well as direct access to all next-generation sequencing platforms. USAMRIID—CGS is highly integrated with several other departments within the Institute (e.g., countermeasure development, diagnostics, and vaccine programs), which creates an ideal environment for interdisciplinary collaboration. Integration of genomics with programs for proteomics, metabolomics, and imagenomics is highly encouraged. Moreover, applicants will have the opportunity to work with commercial and DOD partners to evaluate novel approaches and platforms.

Training in immunology, and/or infectious disease is required. Applicants must have a working understanding of wet-lab and bioinformatic techniques used to analyze high-throughput sequencing data and may focus in either to accomplish their scientific goals.