Research Scientist I - Sabeti Lab

The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard is a research organization that convenes a community of researchers from across many disciplines and partner institutions—MIT, Harvard, and Harvard-affiliated hospitals. Our research teams are working on redefining the boundaries of science and medicine with an interdisciplinary model designed to meet today's most critical biomedical challenges. Here you will find a supportive and collaborative intellectual environment and a firm commitment to continuously invest in cutting-edge technology. At the Broad, we are developing new tools that enable scientists to unlock the mysteries of genomics.

The Sabeti lab, led by Prof. Pardis Sabeti and embedded in the Broad Viral Genomics Program, develops and applies methods across widely varying fields — such as human genomics, viral sequencing, CRISPR-based diagnostics, information theory, rural disease surveillance and education efforts in the US and West Africa — to create comprehensive approaches for detecting, containing, and treating deadly viral diseases. We have developed genomic approaches to study microbial pathogens and uncovered key features of Ebola, Zika, Lassa, and SARS-CoV-2. The Sabeti Lab is large and dynamic, with projects funded by multiple U.S. government agencies and various philanthropic donors.

Our overall research aim is to improve our understanding of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases in West Africa and create effective strategies to respond rapidly to future outbreaks. More specifically, our group is working to develop diagnostics, improve sequencing capacity, and expand surveillance across the regions served by our partner sites. Our work will develop the infrastructure, diagnostic assays, reagents, and computational tools to formulate effective strategies for discovering, mitigating, and ultimately preventing the emergence or re-emergence of human infectious diseases.

We are seeking a research scientist to conduct laboratory and field studies in collaboration with our partners in West Africa. The implementation scientist will work under various projects, including the West African Research Network for Infectious Diseases (WARN-ID) and Sentinel, to help implement our projects, which aim to support pandemic prevention and infectious disease surveillance by leveraging genomic technologies for pathogen surveillance. The successful candidate will work closely with our partners in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Senegal, and Liberia to advance capacity and infrastructure for outbreak response. As such, this role will require significant travel to West Africa, including fieldwork for two (2) weeks or more per trip at our partner sites, to complete the activities described below.

Principal Duties And Responsibilities

As a research scientist, you will initiate, lead, and carry out projects with limited supervision and write papers and grant proposals. The successful candidate will set and manage progress toward goals.

Research

• Guide clinical validation work and engagements with FDA and other foreign regulatory agencies.
• Assesses new diagnostics technologies/methods and evaluates their applicability for public health.
• Leads efforts to analyze current project operations and makes recommendations for process improvements.
• Identifies and resolves technical and methodological problems.
• Makes substantial contributions to determining goals, objectives, and research methods for new and existing projects.
• Works with the Project Directors, Program Leads, and Project Managers to translate emerging diagnostic technology platforms to be applicable for LMICs across different disease areas.
• Works with the management team to ensure activities related to the use of biological materials, including recombinant and synthetic DNA in the lab, are performed safely and in compliance with applicable regulations, standards, policies and procedures, and best practices.
• Designs and executes research projects integral to the mission of the Sabeti Lab and impacting the external research community.
• Makes detailed observations and analyzes/interprets experimental data, and presents results to the team.
• Leads the implementation of diagnostics products and guides experimental (wet lab) work at the Sabeti lab and partner sites.

Scientific community

• Makes contributions to scientific papers, reports, and presentations
• Participates in external activities: scientific conferences, technical meetings, invited symposia, etc.
• Participates in the writing of grant proposals and patent applications

Management

• May train, supervise, or mentor junior members of a group
• Support the development of project budgets and works with Institutional administrative staff in the close management of those budgets

May perform other duties as assigned.

Desired Qualifications And Experience

• Ph.D. in a relevant field
• Experience assessing new technologies and approaches as well as matching novel technologies with biomedical or public health applications
• Expertise or strong understanding of molecular-based diagnostics such as PCR, CRISPR, and sequencing
• Experience in leading diagnostic products from early development through deployment/implementation work
• Experience working in the scientific or global health field, ideally in Africa
• Experience in regulatory review and approvals is a plus

Key attributes

• Ability to work independently and can self-manage multiple projects to meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment with many opposing demands and a large portfolio of active programs.
• Proactive and flexible nature with reliable follow-through and attention to detail.
• Ability to interact with an interdisciplinary group, including international collaborators, global health researchers, research scientists, medical doctors, and data analysts.
• Comfortable working in a multifaceted environment with the ability to cope with shifting priorities and can execute in a high-level direction.
• Ability to build and maintain excellent long-distance working relationships that span many cultures to foster teamwork, good morale, and trust.
• Willingness to travel and work internationally for two or more weeks at a time.
• Sound judgment to handle a variety of tasks and effectively anticipate and solve problems.

Working Conditions

• This role will travel to and work from West Africa 20% - 30% of the year (travel and accommodation costs included)

If Interested

• Please submit a cover letter and resume through the application portal

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status.

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