The Department of Biomedical Data Science (DBDS) at Stanford University is looking for a Biocuration Scientist to plan, develop, and implement the creation and advancement of web-based databases used to solve formal and practical problems arising from the management and analysis of scientific and clinical data. ClinGen. The Clinical Genome Resource (ClinGen, www.clinicalgenome.org) is a project of national importance and is dedicated to building an authoritative central resource that defines the clinical relevance of genes and variants for use in precision medicine. Our team at Stanford has been tasked by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to build the informatics infrastructure for this project. The work has high visibility and massive real-world impact on patient care through the expansion of cutting-edge software technologies. This individual will be responsible for working with other curation and software engineering staff in the specification, design, and implementation of tools that integrate, search, and display scientific and clinical data. In addition, this individual must become expert in the specialized tools that are required for data collection, analysis, and visualization. The successful candidate will define and maintain processes that evaluate and verify the accuracy of these data. Therefore, the successful candidate should understand experimental methods, data analysis methods and inferences that can be applied to both single-gene experimentation and high-throughput analyses. Familiarity with the use of controlled vocabularies and ontologies to describe biological concepts is a plus. Knowledge of the clinical validity of genomic variants, molecular mechanisms of disease, functional assays and computational analysis is needed in order to successfully define the use of these data. An understanding of bioinformatics analysis to identify variants within genomic datasets, and variant effect prediction algorithms is desirable. An advanced education in biology or medicine is required to facilitate the assessment of experimental details and to successfully evaluate quality control of novel scientific data. The successful candidate must apply judgment and evaluate the experimental data, not as a peer-reviewer, but to determine if the results reported are appropriate for the database. The successful candidate must be able to work independently, yet collaborate effectively with co-workers. Previous experience working in an academic environment is a plus. In addition, this individual will be responsible for describing and designing educational material for the project’s users. Excellent verbal and written communication skills are essential to (1) interact effectively with members of the scientific community, (2) facilitate the acquisition and description of scientific data, (3) effectively provide documentation and specifications to coworkers during tool development, and (4) contribute to publications. The successful candidate will work at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. Compliance with and support of University and government health & safety regulations & policies is required.
Stanford University is seeking a Scientific Data Curator 2 to conduct research using informatics tools and methods. Participate in the development of web-based databases used to solve formal and practical problems arising from the management and analysis of scientific data.
Duties include:
- Identify and acquire new data for inclusion in the database; collaborate with other labs for the purpose of gathering more information to be included in the database.
- Review submissions to the database for quality and relevancy; abstract information in the required formats.
- Write papers drawing from information submitted to the database.
- Work with users to determine ways of using the information in the database, which may include the development of new user interfaces; work with developers to translate the needs of the users into new functionality.
- Promote the database to researchers as a tool to be used in their research and to gather more content.
- Identify new functionality and user interfaces that would enhance the use of the database.
- Compile and create educated summaries of the literature, discovering new facts by analyzing the collected data.
- Participate in presentations and demonstrations of the database at conferences or other institutions.
- Collect and analyze information from peer-reviewed scientific journals and through direct submissions; abstract data into the required format and verify them for accuracy.
– Other duties may also be assigned
DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Background in clinical genomics and/or genetics.
- PhD in a science-related field.
EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE (REQUIRED):
Master’s degree in scientific field and three years of relevant experience or combination of relevant experience.
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (REQUIRED):
- Strong analytical skills.
- Ability to learn and utilize relational databases, data integration, and statistics.
- Strong written and oral English communication skills.
- Computer skills, including word processing and spreadsheet applications.
- Ability to understand scientific literature, experimental procedures and their limitations, and current needs of the research community.
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS*:
Frequently perform desk-based computer tasks, seated work and use light/ fine grasping. Occasionally stand, walk, and write by hand, lift, carry, push pull objects that weigh up to 10 pounds.
* – Consistent with its obligations under the law, the University will provide reasonable accommodation to any employee with a disability who requires accommodation to perform the essential functions of his or her job.
WORKING CONDITIONS:
- May work extended or non-standard hours based on project or business needs. Occasional local travel may be required.
- Some work may be performed in a laboratory setting.
WORK STANDARDS:
- Interpersonal Skills: Demonstrates the ability to work well with Stanford colleagues and clients and with external organizations.
- Promote Culture of Safety: Demonstrates commitment to personal responsibility and value for safety; communicates safety concerns; uses and promotes safe behaviors based on training and lessons learned.
- Subject to and expected to comply with all applicable University policies and procedures, including but not limited to the personnel policies and other policies found in the University’s Administrative Guide, http://adminguide.stanford.edu.
The expected pay range for this position is $92,000 to $125,000 per annum. Stanford University provides pay ranges representing its good faith estimate of what the university reasonably expects to pay for a position. The pay offered to a selected candidate will be determined based on factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the qualifications of the selected candidate, departmental budget availability, internal equity, geographic location and external market pay for comparable jobs.