[Hiring] Research Postdoctoral Fellow @Children's National Hospital

Role Description

The Rokita Lab at Children’s National Hospital is seeking a highly skilled Postdoctoral Fellow to join our team. We are situated within the Center for Cancer and Immunology Research (CCIR) and Brain Tumor Institute. This position will advance research on how pediatric brain tumors evolve across the full course of disease, from diagnosis through end of life.

The role involves close collaboration with researchers and clinicians within both Children’s National as well as external partners. The successful candidate will be mentored by Dr. Jo Lynne Rokita, lead bioinformatics-driven projects, participate in collaborative activities in the lab and BTI such as code review and/or workshop training, and contribute to grant applications and scientific manuscripts.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead high-quality bioinformatics analyses on pediatric brain tumor datasets spanning genomic, transcriptomic, and epigenomic data across longitudinal and spatial postmortem samples.
• Design and implement downstream analytical workflows for high-throughput data using our GitHub, Docker, and AWS infrastructure, focusing on reproducibility, code efficiency, and scalability.
• Utilize cloud-computing environments (e.g., AWS EC2) and/or high-performance computing (HPC) to support large-scale or memory-intensive analyses.
• Actively and positively participate in sprints and code reviews, ensuring high standards for reproducibility and documentation.
• Engage with multidisciplinary teams, providing bioinformatics expertise to support collaborative research initiatives.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Quantitative Biology, Cancer Genetics, or related field.
• Expertise in Bash and either R or Python.
• Proficiency with cloud-based or high-performance computing environments for bioinformatics workflows.
• Proven experience with multiple genomic data types such as single nucleotide variants (SNVs), copy number variants, fusions, RNA expression, methylation, proteomics, and splicing data.
• Commitment to open science practices, including sharing and collaborating on code, data, and documentation.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to collaborate with other team members.

Requirements

• Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) (Required) Or Medical Doctor (M.D.) (Required)
• Completed training in a specialty in a field of research.
• Demonstrated potential for successful career in research and related scholarly achievement.

Benefits

• Comprehensive health coverage, including medical, prescription, infertility, and transgender health services.
• Generous paid time off, including vacation accrual from day one, sick leave, holidays, and a personal day.
• Financial wellness support, including a 401(k) plan and healthcare and dependent care spending accounts.
• Employer-paid life, AD&D, and long-term disability coverage, with optional supplemental plans.
• Additional perks, including tuition assistance, fitness resources, employee assistance, commuter benefits, and more.