Bioinformatics Research in Prokaryotic Genetics

The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) aims to conduct biomedical research that is responsive to U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Army requirements and delivers lifesaving products including knowledge, technology and medical material that sustain the combat effectiveness of the Warfighter. For more information about WRAIR, please visit: https://www.wrair.army.mil/

The successful candidate will employ a variety of bioinformatic tools and software to analyze bacterial genomes for the purpose of outbreak investigations and local, national, and international bacterial epidemiology. The successful candidate will collaborate extensively with internal and external researchers on the molecular genetics of antibiotic resistant bacteria. In particular, the successful candidate will analyze and research the global dissemination of antibiotic resistant bacteria and participate in real-time surveillance for these organisms throughout the military healthcare system.

The participant in this program will gain extensive educational experience that will greatly enhance his/her career opportunities. In particular, the participant will gain hands-on knowledge of working with both short-read and long-read DNA sequences using the Illumina Miseq and Nextseq systems and the PacBio RSII and MinIon platforms. This combination of short-read and long-read sequence experience is extremely difficult to find. Furthermore, the participant will be conducting analyses using the most state-of-the-art software and bioinformatics tools, such as Geneious, and will also develop hands-on experience using Linux.

Under the mentorship of WRAIR staff, the selected candidate will help establish fundamental understanding of translational, military-relevant scientific research. The selected candidate will be highly encouraged to begin expanding their network of scientific colleagues and seek collaborations within the U.S. Department of Defense, academia, and commercial companies. Furthermore, the participant will be challenged to develop new and innovative methods for analyzing bacterial DNA, and will have the opportunity to make significant contributions to this emerging field while conducting research in one of the most comprehensive sequencing laboratories in the USA.