Tick-Borne Disease Laboratory

The Army Public Health Center (APHC) is located on Aberdeen Proving Ground South (Edgewood Area). The APHC mission is to enhance Army readiness by identifying and assessing current and emerging health threats, developing and communicating public health solutions, and assuring the quality and effectiveness of the Army's Public Health Enterprise. Their vision is to be a world-class provider of public health services across the Army and DOD. The mission of the Tick-Borne Disease Laboratory (TBDL) is to provide 1) expert consultation on tick and tick-borne disease threats facing military and civilian personnel, 2) fast, reliable analysis of ticks for human pathogens, and 3) targeted tick surveillance data to inform tick-borne disease risks on military installations. For more information about APHC please visit https://phc.amedd.army.mil.

The Tick-Borne Disease Laboratory (TBDL) at the Army Public Health Center (APHC), based in Edgewood, MD, has an open opportunity for one or more full-time participants. This full time experience involves standardized testing of tick specimens using PCR in a Department of Defense (DOD) testing program. Under the guidance of a mentor, the participant will also support the TBDL in providing medical personnel with tick specimen pathogen information for tick bite victims of the DOD service members and dependents. The participant will learn tick identification, tick nucleic acid isolation, PCR screening, results reporting and data entry. This valuable experience under an associated A2LA accreditation, will provide the participant the opportunity to acquire skills in the APHC laboratory quality system, method development activity, and a laboratory information management system (LIMS). This project will provide an opportunity for a BS, MS, or PhD-level ORISE participant to experience a high-throughput laboratory at the intersection of public health, molecular biology, and entomology.

This appointment is a twelve month research appointment, with the possibility to be renewed for additional research periods. Appointments may be extended depending on funding availability, project assignment, program rules, and availability of the participant.

Participants will receive a stipend to be determined by APHC. Stipends are typically based on the participant’s academic standing, discipline, experience, and research facility location. Other benefits may include the following:

The participant will not enter into an employee/employer relationship with ORISE, ORAU, DOD, or any other office or agency. Instead, the participant will be affiliated with ORISE for the administration of the appointment through the ORISE appointment letter and Terms of Appointment.

While participants will not enter into an employment relationship with DOD or any other agency, this opportunity will require a suitability investigation/background investigation. Any offer made is considered tentative pending favorable outcome of the investigation.

The candidate must be a US citizen 18 years or older within 5 years of receiving either a bachelors, master’s, or doctoral degree in a STEM field; those with recent degrees in the fields of entomology or molecular biology are particularly encouraged to apply. Experience in tick and tick-borne disease research highly desired. Experience with molecular methods such as real-time PCR is highly desired. The candidate should have sound planning, organization, and problem solving skills, be self-motivated, and have the ability to participate as part of a team.