Research Data Analyst Associate

at  Northwestern University

THE HEART-GEN RESEARCH GROUP AT NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY

The Health Equity for Advancing Research and Technology using Genomic Neuroscience (HEART-GeN) research group, led by Dr. Kynon J. Benjamin, is seeking a highly motivated Research Data Analyst Associate to join our team. This position offers a unique opportunity to contribute to cutting-edge research focused on understanding the genetic underpinnings of neurological disorders in underrepresented populations.
About the Lab: Dr. Benjamin, an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, leads a research team dedicated to improving therapeutics for underserved communities. Our lab investigates the influence of genetic ancestry on molecular brain signatures, with a particular focus on Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and schizophrenia.
Position Overview: The successful candidate will play a pivotal role in developing and maintaining software and computational pipelines to support our research into the influence of genetic ancestry on molecular signatures of complex brain disorders. By leveraging publicly available resources, you will contribute to novel research aimed at addressing health disparities.

Specific Responsibilities:

• Develop and maintain bioinformatic pipelines for analyzing multi-omic data from postmortem brain tissues.
• Assist in the development of GPU-based software that incorporates local ancestry into bioinformatic pipelines.
• Create visualization tools to represent complex relationships between genetic ancestry, gene expression, and neurological traits.
• Develop interactive dashboards for exploring brain-specific immune signatures and their associations with genetic ancestry.
• Participate in team meetings and collaborate with other research groups to share knowledge and best practices.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Bioinformatics, or a related field
• Strong programming skills in Python, R, and/or C/C++
• Familiarity with version control systems (e.g., Git) and software development best practices
• Experience with high-performance computing environments and/or cloud platforms
• Strong foundation in statistical analysis and data visualization
• Excellent communication skills and ability to work in a collaborative research environment
  Target hiring range for this position will be between $56,782 - 79,850 per year. Offered salary will be determined by the applicant’s education, experience, knowledge, skills and abilities, as well as internal equity and alignment with market data.

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The Northwestern campus sits on the traditional homelands of the people of the Council of Three Fires, the Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and Odawa as well as the Menominee, Miami and Ho-Chunk nations. We acknowledge and honor the original people of the land upon which Northwestern University stands, and the Native people who remain on this land today.

• Develop and maintain bioinformatic pipelines for analyzing multi-omic data from postmortem brain tissues.
• Assist in the development of GPU-based software that incorporates local ancestry into bioinformatic pipelines.
• Create visualization tools to represent complex relationships between genetic ancestry, gene expression, and neurological traits.
• Develop interactive dashboards for exploring brain-specific immune signatures and their associations with genetic ancestry.
• Participate in team meetings and collaborate with other research groups to share knowledge and best practices