IAVI
: Nairobi, Nairobi County, Kenya
Date : 2023-04-01
Job Details
Description
Position Description
Title: Bioinformatician/Data Scientist
Location: IAVI Africa Regional Office, Nairobi Kenya
Reports to: ADVANCE Chief of Party and Program Director
Position Summary
IAVI is seeking a Bioinformatician/Data Scientist who will be responsible for analyzing and developing tools for datasets that include antibody repertoire next-generation sequencing, 10x Genomics antibody VDJ and transcriptomics, HLA typing and TCR repertoires, virus sequencing, and other datasets related to antibodies and vaccines. Working with relevant stakeholders, the successful candidate will provided project-specific support across the CRC network, including the identification and application of existing computational tools and the development of new computational tools. In addition to bioinformatics support, this position will support data science management, including managing updates to the IAVI dataspace and working with relevant stakeholders to ensure compliance with data management policies.
The position is based in East Africa and works with key global partners in the UK and the US as well as the CRC network in Africa and India.
Key Responsibilities
IAVI is a nonprofit scientific research organization dedicated to addressing urgent, unmet global health challenges including HIV and tuberculosis. Our mission is to translate scientific discoveries into affordable, globally accessible public health solutions. Through scientific and clinical research in Africa, India, Europe, and the U.S., IAVI is pioneering the development of biomedical innovations designed for broad global access. We develop vaccines and antibodies in and for the developing world and seek to accelerate their introduction in low-income countries. IAVI programs and partnerships are grounded in the regions of the world where the disease burden is the greatest, and our approach emphasizes sustainability. Our network of clinical research center partners in Africa and India helps strengthen in-country research capacity and supports the training and education of the next generation of scientists. The global impact of our science includes fundamental contributions to understanding the biology of HIV infection, which IAVI and others are applying toward advancing vaccine science and immunology. IAVI accelerates scientific discovery and development by fostering unique collaborations among academia, industry, local communities, governments, and funders to explore new and better ways to address public health threats that disproportionately affect people living in poverty. Our global reach, including a clinical research network in five countries in sub-Saharan Africa and in India, has allowed us to make fundamental contributions to understanding the epidemiology, transmission, virology, and immunology of HIV. This work played a key role in facilitating the design of promising HIV vaccine candidates, as well as the discovery of broadly neutralizing antibodies that are now being advanced as promising approaches for HIV prevention. Our integrated capabilities in vaccine and antibody discovery, development, and clinical research take advantage of bio-pharmaceutical industry expertise to accelerate the development and testing of prevention methods for HIV and other diseases. Through the Product Development Center, we support external researchers with technical and scientific expertise to accelerate the development of their own products.
About ADVANCE
ADVANCE (Accelerate the Development of Vaccines and New Technologies to Combat the AIDS Epidemic) is a ten-year cooperative agreement with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). This visionary $200 million program will run until June 2026 and is part of IAVI’s 22-year collaboration with USAID that has significantly impacted the field of HIV vaccine R&D and accelerated the search for innovative prevention tools, including a safe and globally effective HIV vaccine. USAID’s long-term investment and willingness to foster advances in science to benefit the world’s most at-risk populations have enabled IAVI’s unique model in Africa and India.
Iavi Core Values
IAVI IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER actively committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive global organization. IAVI believes that diversity and inclusion among our teammates is critical, and we seek to recruit, develop and retain the most talented people from a representative candidate pool. At IAVI, we celebrate the spectrum of colleagues’ experiences and believe that dedication to our mission above all is essential to our success as a scientific global non-profit. IAVI upholds these principles through IAVI’s Global Diversity and Inclusion Committee.
IAVI has zero tolerance for discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, caste, national origin, home language, ancestry, religion, marital or civil partnership status, age, physical or mental disability, HIV status and any other medical condition, genetic information, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, and veteran status, in addition to any other status protected under the law in any of our locations worldwide.
Description
Position Description
Title: Bioinformatician/Data Scientist
Location: IAVI Africa Regional Office, Nairobi Kenya
Reports to: ADVANCE Chief of Party and Program Director
Position Summary
IAVI is seeking a Bioinformatician/Data Scientist who will be responsible for analyzing and developing tools for datasets that include antibody repertoire next-generation sequencing, 10x Genomics antibody VDJ and transcriptomics, HLA typing and TCR repertoires, virus sequencing, and other datasets related to antibodies and vaccines. Working with relevant stakeholders, the successful candidate will provided project-specific support across the CRC network, including the identification and application of existing computational tools and the development of new computational tools. In addition to bioinformatics support, this position will support data science management, including managing updates to the IAVI dataspace and working with relevant stakeholders to ensure compliance with data management policies.
The position is based in East Africa and works with key global partners in the UK and the US as well as the CRC network in Africa and India.
Key Responsibilities
- Stay up to date with new sequencing tools, platforms, and data analysis tools that can be incorporated into the ADVANCE program, ensuring the program maintains and easily accommodates new innovations and technologies
- Build and integrate cloud-based/on-premise architecture to facilitate the analysis pipelines
- Support analysis of sequencing data sets obtained by Sanger, Illumina NGS, and 10x
- Support development and improvement of computational pipelines to analyze antibody, virus, and HLA/TCR sequences
- Write software for curating, modeling, and maintaining large datasets
- Maintain and further develop the Laboratory information management system (LIMS)
- Integration and analysis of large scale clinical, epidemiological, and genetic datasets to gain new insights into disease susceptibility, disease progression, and vaccine response – particularly within the context of HIV infection
- Build a knowledge base of existing bioinformatics capacity and future research aspirations for each CRC site, informing capacity building plans at the individual and cross-network levels
- Garner a detailed understanding of ongoing projects in ADVANCE and suggest computational tools to accelerate outputs for different research projects
- Understand the long-term portfolio of ADVANCE’s medium and long-term projects, particularly those related to capacity building and clinical trials, and co-develop computational and statistical tools to support future activities
- An advanced degree in bioinformatics, computational biology, computer science, data science or a related field is required; PhD is desirable
- Minimum 4 years of experience in bioinformatics and data science is required.
- Experience and knowledge of cloud computing administration or on-premise network administration and application deployment (GCS or AWS) is required
- A strong track record in published research and/or directing research programs is required
- Experience with capacity building or strengthening in LMICs is required
- Experience programming inPython and software development stacks is required
- Experience in the use of JuPandasData Library and Jupyter Software Ecosystem is required
- Excellent verbal, written, and presentation skills are required
- Excellent planning, project management, and organizational skills are required.
- Knowledge of Web APIs, REST/GraphQL is highly desirable
- Experience in continuous deployment/continuous integration (CI/CD) is highly desirable
- Experience with No-SQL database modeling is highly desirable
- Experience in managing multi-centre research projects is desirable
- Previous work experience in the field of Global Health and/or HIV is desirable
IAVI is a nonprofit scientific research organization dedicated to addressing urgent, unmet global health challenges including HIV and tuberculosis. Our mission is to translate scientific discoveries into affordable, globally accessible public health solutions. Through scientific and clinical research in Africa, India, Europe, and the U.S., IAVI is pioneering the development of biomedical innovations designed for broad global access. We develop vaccines and antibodies in and for the developing world and seek to accelerate their introduction in low-income countries. IAVI programs and partnerships are grounded in the regions of the world where the disease burden is the greatest, and our approach emphasizes sustainability. Our network of clinical research center partners in Africa and India helps strengthen in-country research capacity and supports the training and education of the next generation of scientists. The global impact of our science includes fundamental contributions to understanding the biology of HIV infection, which IAVI and others are applying toward advancing vaccine science and immunology. IAVI accelerates scientific discovery and development by fostering unique collaborations among academia, industry, local communities, governments, and funders to explore new and better ways to address public health threats that disproportionately affect people living in poverty. Our global reach, including a clinical research network in five countries in sub-Saharan Africa and in India, has allowed us to make fundamental contributions to understanding the epidemiology, transmission, virology, and immunology of HIV. This work played a key role in facilitating the design of promising HIV vaccine candidates, as well as the discovery of broadly neutralizing antibodies that are now being advanced as promising approaches for HIV prevention. Our integrated capabilities in vaccine and antibody discovery, development, and clinical research take advantage of bio-pharmaceutical industry expertise to accelerate the development and testing of prevention methods for HIV and other diseases. Through the Product Development Center, we support external researchers with technical and scientific expertise to accelerate the development of their own products.
About ADVANCE
ADVANCE (Accelerate the Development of Vaccines and New Technologies to Combat the AIDS Epidemic) is a ten-year cooperative agreement with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). This visionary $200 million program will run until June 2026 and is part of IAVI’s 22-year collaboration with USAID that has significantly impacted the field of HIV vaccine R&D and accelerated the search for innovative prevention tools, including a safe and globally effective HIV vaccine. USAID’s long-term investment and willingness to foster advances in science to benefit the world’s most at-risk populations have enabled IAVI’s unique model in Africa and India.
Iavi Core Values
- Dedication to the Mission: We are committed to the translation of scientific discoveries into affordable, globally accessible public health solutions.
- Innovative Evolution: We are committed to solving complex problems in creative and innovative ways, learning from our mistakes and successes and never giving up
- Integrity: We are committed to meeting the highest ethical and professional standards in everything we do and to taking responsibility for our actions to earn respect
- Collaboration: We are committed to embracing diversity, the power of global teamwork and the belief that by working as one we can make a difference
IAVI IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER actively committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive global organization. IAVI believes that diversity and inclusion among our teammates is critical, and we seek to recruit, develop and retain the most talented people from a representative candidate pool. At IAVI, we celebrate the spectrum of colleagues’ experiences and believe that dedication to our mission above all is essential to our success as a scientific global non-profit. IAVI upholds these principles through IAVI’s Global Diversity and Inclusion Committee.
IAVI has zero tolerance for discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, caste, national origin, home language, ancestry, religion, marital or civil partnership status, age, physical or mental disability, HIV status and any other medical condition, genetic information, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, and veteran status, in addition to any other status protected under the law in any of our locations worldwide.
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