Research Assistant

at  Western University

ABOUT WESTERN

With an international reputation for success, Western ranks as one of Canada’s top research-intensive universities. Our research excellence expands knowledge and drives discovery with real-world application. Western also provides an exceptional employment experience, offering competitive salaries, a wide range of employment opportunities and one of Canada’s most beautiful campuses.

ABOUT US

Western’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry is a leading Canadian centre of outstanding education and research shaping health care for the next generation and is the largest and most complex faculty on campus. The Department of Biochemistry is a basic science department within the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry and is a vibrant community of faculty, research personnel, students and administrative staff dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in research and teaching. The Department has a significant academic and research profile in the areas of: genome dynamics; epigenetics and gene expression; human genetics and clinical biochemistry; signal transduction and intracellular communication; macromolecular structure and dynamics; proteomics and bioinformatics.

EDUCATION:

• MSc. Computer Science with concentration in Bioinformatics. 5 or more years of industry experience.

EXPERIENCE:

• 1 year of work experience supporting research in a related technical field
• Knowledge of SQL, Python, Javascript, C/C++, PHP, SOAP APIs, the Unix command line, software quality assurance and testing on large datasets
• Publications and experience in human genome bioinformatics (transcriptomics, genome-scale DNA sequence analysis, information theory, public/government genome databases, HGVS-approved variant nomenclature)
• Knowledge of Software code and operational details of Veridical and Shannon pipeline developed in Dr. Peter Rogan’s laboratory.
• Experience with successful government and industry collaborations

SKILLS, ABILITIES & EXPERTISE:

• Detail-oriented with an ability to function and process information with high levels of accuracy
• Ability to employ a systematic and efficient approach to work
• Personable and courteous in working relationships with colleagues, students and the public
• Ability to collect and analyze data in an objective manner
• Familiarity with regulations and guidelines governing research
• Familiarity with methods for research design, implementation, and analysis
• Familiarity with experimental design and analysis
• Computer skills with the ability to learn and use software programs
• Intermediate computer skills in Microsoft Office Suite
• Ability to work independently and effectively as a member of the team to achieve department goals
• Verbal and written communication skills with the ability to document technical information

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Understand and implement published specifications by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) that fulfill requirements for depositing functional evidence supporting gene variant interpretation in the ClinVar database.
• Validation of a set of pilot samples of laboratory variant data with NCBI personnel. This procedure will be iterated until NCBI agrees that implementation is concordant with specifications.
• Prepare a code base to instruct translation of a large laboratory mRNA splicing gene variant database (consisting of 700,000 records) into NCBI approved format.
• Update an existing laboratory mRNA splicing variant website to fix broken connections to external websites and APIs that are dynamically generated for each variant. The system must then be archived into open source repositories which will be cited in the NCBI specification.