Posted Date: 04-Jul-2023.
Position Description
Area: Genomics of Clinical and Environmental Microbes
Duration: Two-year position
Start Date: Immediate
Salary: $60,000-65,000 depending on experience/year plus benefits
The Faculties of Science and Medicine at the University of Calgary and the Faculty of Science and Technology at Athabasca University are accepting applications for a Postdoctoral Scholar in Wastewater-Based Epidemiology and Molecular Microbiology.
Job Description:
The postdoc will be part of an interdisciplinary research team that is using wastewater to track the dynamics of infectious agents. We have developed an integrated surveillance network monitoring 43 municipalities, as well as several sentinel surveillance hubs including many tertiary care hospitals and populations of special interest from which we collect samples 1-3x per week. Wastewater and hospital-specific data can be compared with population-level data drawing from a single provincial health provider. The potential of this unique network is exceptional; the postdoc will work directly with a transdisciplinary team of clinicians and researchers at the University of Calgary (Faculties of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, and Advancing Canadian Water Assets (ACWA)) and Athabasca University. The postdoc will also collaborate with the City of Calgary’s municipal employees and public health experts at Alberta Health Services.
The successful applicant will join a productive transdisciplinary team with supporting research funding from CIHR, Genome Canada, and Alberta Health. Working with the Primary Investigators Michael Parkins (Section Chief of Infectious Diseases, Cumming School of Medicine), Srijak Bhatnagar, Bioinformatics lead Faculty of Science and Technology), and Casey Hubert (UCalgary Research Chair, Faculty of Science), and Kevin Frankowski (ACWA). The postdoc will work as part of a large team that includes several staff with PhDs, graduate students, and undergraduates.
The successful candidate will be based at the University of Calgary and utilize archived and newly collected wastewater samples for molecular and bioinformatics analyses for the detection of antimicrobial resistance that is relevant to community public health. The candidate will be exposed to multiple teams with complementary skillsets working across a range of labs and campuses. This position will utilize our existing research capacity in field sampling to follow with molecular detection using nucleic acid sequencing (amplicon and/or shotgun) based approaches. Applying or developing bioinformatics analysis pipelines is an essential part of this work. This postdoc will play a key role in our team’s efforts to disseminate information, such as peer-reviewed publications and presentations. Accordingly, contributing to the preparation of manuscripts will be a high-priority objective for this position. Additional responsibilities will include participating in and supporting the team described above and some supervision of junior colleagues.
Qualifications:
- PhD in molecular biology, microbiology, bioinformatics, or a related field.
- A strong experience in (meta)genomics or bioinformatics, preferably antimicrobial resistance, or wastewater environment.
- Experience in scripting in Python and/or R, use of software for genomic or metagenomic analysis, and data visualization.
- Experience with biostatistical approaches is desirable.
- Understanding of analytical methods, particularly in molecular microbiology.
- Field sampling, including wastewater experience, is an asset.
- Must be able to work in a team environment and interact with a diverse range of colleagues and collaborators.
- Strong communication skills as well as good organizational, time management, and problem-solving skills.
- Ability to work independently and resourcefully, while interacting effectively with internal and external stakeholders at all levels of the organization.
- Able to work within a collaborative setting with others to set clear priorities while managing multiple timelines and objectives.
- Evidence of good research productivity.
- Strong academic writing potential.
Application Details:
If you are interested in applying, please contact Dr. Rhonda Clark at [email protected], with the subject line: “WBS – Omics Postdoc position”. Applications will be reviewed as soon as they are received. Candidates should include the following as a single PDF file in their application:
- A brief cover letter outlining interest in this project, detailing qualifications and/or related experience as well as career goals.
- A detailed resumé.
- Name and contact information of three references.
- An example of your peer-reviewed publication.
Additional Information
To learn more about postdoctoral scholar opportunities at the University of Calgary and all we have to offer, view our Postdoc Careers website. For more information visit Careers in the Cumming School of Medicine.
The University strongly recommends all faculty and staff are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
About the University of Calgary
The University of Calgary is Canada’s leading next-generation university – a living, growing and youthful institution that embraces change and opportunity with a can-do attitude. Located in the nation’s most enterprising city, the university is making tremendous progress on its Eyes High journey to be recognized as one of Canada’s top five research universities, grounded in innovative learning and teaching and fully integrated with the community it both serves and leads. The University of Calgary inspires and supports discovery, creativity and innovation across all disciplines. For more information, visit ucalgary.ca.
To succeed as one of Canada’s top universities, where new ideas are created, tested and applied through first-class teaching and research, the University of Calgary needs more of the best minds in our classrooms and labs. We’re increasing our scholarly capacity by investing in people who want to change the world, bringing the best and brightest to Calgary to form a global intellectual hub and achieve advances that matter to everyone. For more information visit research.ucalgary.ca/postdocs.
About Calgary, Alberta
Calgary is one of the world’s cleanest cities and has been named one of the world’s most livable cities for years. Calgary is a city of leaders – in business, community, philanthropy and volunteerism. Calgarians benefit from the strongest economy in the nation and enjoy more days of sunshine per year than any other major Canadian city. Calgary is less than an hour’s drive from the Rocky Mountains and boasts the most extensive urban pathway and bikeway network in North America.
The University of Calgary has launched an institution-wide Indigenous Strategy in line with the foundational goals of Eyes High, committing to creating a rich, vibrant, and culturally competent campus that welcomes and supports Indigenous Peoples, encourages Indigenous community partnerships, is inclusive of Indigenous perspectives in all that we do.
As an equitable and inclusive employer, the University of Calgary recognizes that a diverse staff/faculty benefits and enriches the work, learning and research experiences of the entire campus and greater community. We are committed to removing barriers that have been historically encountered by some people in our society. We strive to recruit individuals who will further enhance our diversity and will support their academic and professional success while they are here. In particular, we encourage members of the designated groups (women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, members of visible/racialized minorities, and diverse sexual orientation and gender identities) to apply. To ensure a fair and equitable assessment, we offer accommodation at any stage during the recruitment process to applicants with disabilities. Questions regarding [diversity] EDI at UCalgary can be sent to the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion ([email protected]) and requests for accommodations can be sent to Human Resources ([email protected]).
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