Postdoc Research Associate

What We're Looking For

Baylor University’s Molecular Ecology lab (Biology Department), led by Dr. Jeremiah ‘Jake’ Minich https://biology.artsandsciences.baylor.edu/person/jeremiah-j-minich-jake-phd invites applications for a Postdoctoral Research Scholar in the area of microbial ecology with a special focus on host-microbe interactions. The Postdoctoral Research Scholar will be working in a uniquely collaborative and productive lab. Dr. Jeremiah Minich’s lab is leading research on in long-read metagenomics applied to global health (child undernutrition), OneHealth, and sustainable food production systems (aquaculture). The Postdoc will be taking a leadership role in a developing new tools and approaches for long-read metagenomics and applying these to both human health and aquaculture related projects, will assist in other funded projects, will be exposed to many research topics associated with environmental biotechnology, and will have the opportunity to start new projects. The Minich lab has a PacBio Vega benchtop sequencer (first in a Texas University), a high-performance computing cluster, and a fully equipped molecular lab.

Priority will be given to candidates with experience working with computational biology (including ML/AI), biostatistics, functional genomics (comparative genomics and pangenomes), microbial ecology analysis targeting microbial genomes, microbial pathways, and microbially-produced metabolites as demonstrated through publications and references.

Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. Please indicate how your research and training goals align with my lab’s research program in your cover letter.

Minimum Qualifications

• Applicants must have a recent PhD (within the past 4 years) in Genomics, Microbiology, Bioinformatics, Biostatistics, Computer Science, or a similar discipline

Desired Qualifications (Computational ‘dry lab’):

• Strong experience working in High Performance Computing (on prems)
• Strong programming skills in R and Python (ideal), and proficiency with Unix/Linux environments.
• Experience with long-read DNA sequencing approaches applied to microbial genomics
• Strong background in biostatistics and data authentication methodologies, including experience with tools such as MaAsLin2/3, ALDEx2, ANCOM-BC2, and other relevant computational packages.
• Familiarity with amplicon gene sequencing, metagenomics, and downstream profiling tools (Sylph, MetaPhlAn4, HUMAnN, StrainPhlAn, Kraken-LR, BugSeq, Centrifuge-LR, MEGAN-LR, sourmash, minimap2, or similar tools)
• Familiar with snakemake or other workflow packages
• Experience with long-read metagenome assembly (e.g. metaMDBG, myloASM, HiFiASM) and functional annotation pipelines (e.g., Prokka, Prodigal, DRAM-LR, eggnog-mapper).
• Proficient with microbiome-specific bioinformatics pipelines including QIIME2, Qiita,
• Experience with comparative genomics or pangenome analyses methods
• Familiarity with version control systems, particularly Git and GitHub, including cloning, managing repositories, branching, and implementing collaborative and reproducible data analysis workflows.
• Experience in applying machine learning or AI approaches to genomics data (e.g. BLUP, extreme gradient boosting ‘XGBoost’, penalized linear regression LASSO, ridge regression, elastic net models, or others)

Desired Qualifications (Molecular ‘wetlab’):

• Bench (wetlab) experience doing molecular biology (DNA extractions, RNA extractions, PCR. library preparation ‘long-read’ and PacBio preferred, and sequencing).
• DNA/RNA QA/QC (Qubit, nanodrop, gel electrophoresis or interpreting data generating with Tapestation, Femto pulse, or similar)
• Experience with designing and conducting molecular experiments including sample collection and storage for sequencing

Desired Qualifications (other skills):

• Ability to work across disciplines, on a team, or with stakeholders
• Demonstrated experience in the publication of peer-reviewed research
• Interest in host-microbiome interactions, microbe-microbe interactions, microbe-environment interactions;
• Proven experience in handling and integrating multi-omics datasets, including metagenomics, and/or metatranscriptomics, and/or metabolomics.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently as well as collaboratively in multidisciplinary teams.
• Proven track record of research productivity as demonstrated by publications in peer-reviewed journals relevant to genomics, microbiome or computational biology.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Hands on experience with large datasets and data analysis and integration
• Experience with mentoring graduate and undergraduate students.
• Experience in project management, team leadership, and effective communication

What You Will Do

• Project management, meeting coordination, and leadership
• Experimental design and implementation, data analyses, and report/manuscript preparation
• Training and mentoring graduate and undergraduate students.
• Identifying, coordinating, and leading the writing of research proposals and seeking future funding.
• Establishing and sustaining interactions among faculty, post-docs, and students across the Centers and the University is central to the position
• Coordinating among team members
• Perform all other duties as assigned to support Baylor’s mission.
• Ability to comply with University policies.
• Maintain regular and punctual attendance.

What You Can Expect

As part of the Baylor family, eligible employees receive a comprehensive benefits package that includes medical, dental, and vision insurance, generous time off, tuition remission, and outstanding automatic retirement contributions. Baylor has a comprehensive benefits plan that supports you and your family’s wellbeing and allows you to be a part of the life of a vibrant and active college campus. To learn more, go to Baylor Benefits & Advantages.

Explore & Engage

Learn more about Baylor and our strategic vision, Baylor in Deeds . Also, explore our great hometown of Waco and the many opportunities to engage locally. If you are new to Central Texas, This is Waco!

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