Job Description

Overview

Located in Boston and the surrounding communities, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is a leader in life changing breakthroughs in cancer research and patient care. We are united in our mission of conquering cancer, HIV/AIDS and related diseases. We strive to create an inclusive, diverse, and equitable environment where we provide compassionate and comprehensive care to patients of all backgrounds, and design programs to promote public health particularly among high-risk and underserved populations. We conduct groundbreaking research that advances treatment, we educate tomorrow's physician/researchers, and we work with amazing partners, including other Harvard Medical School-affiliated hospitals.

A computationally-oriented team led by Rameen Beroukhim and Simona Dalin at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Broad Institute seeks a computational associate to join in efforts to develop and apply cutting-edge genomic technologies to characterize genomic rearrangements in cancers and normal tissues, and better understand how errors in double strand break (DSB) repair result in these rearrangements. Projects include 1) identifying sequence features that influence the formation of genomic rearrangements based on data from thousands of tumors and matched normal samples, 2) applying sophisticated statistical approaches to determine relationships between the presense of specific rearrangements and genetic/pharmacologic vulnerabilities in cancer cell lines, and 3) developing new analysis methods for a novel experimental technique developed in our laboratory to identify subclonal rearrangements in tumor samples.

This individual will contribute to a lively team and wider community of laboratory scientists, computational biologists, cancer geneticists, and software engineers dedicated to discovering and understanding the alterations in the cancer genome and discovering cancer vulnerabilities that could lead to new therapeutics.

We are looking for a person who will lead their projects, thinking independently and making original intellectual contributions. We welcome all levels of input from our computational associates, including input on the conduct of analyses but also on new analyses to conduct and new questions to ask. Computational associates in our laboratory regularly present their own work and contribute to the writing of papers and grant applications.

We view a computational associate as a mentored training position, with a primary goal being the professional development of our CAs. Prior CAs have successfully pursued a variety of subsequent career directions including obtaining MDs, PhDs, and MD-PhDs on the paths to careers in both academia and industry.

Responsibilities

• Interprets complex biological information. Performs tasks to reduce and consolidate output from software. Prepares data for utilization by other scientists.
• Monitors new data from public databases, finds and loads missed data, cleans loaded data to satisfy quality control criteria.
• Must be able to query various sources for the information needed; i.e., the Web, publications and internal DFCI resources.
• Directs and guides DNA, RNA and protein sequence database searches and the computational analysis of resulting data.
• Implements end-users needs in database searching and integration.
• Maintains the computational infrastructure and controls the flow of samples and information for large-scale studies. 
• Recognizes and reports problems with the data management process and fixes the problems whenever possible.

Qualifications

Required:

• B.S./B.A. or equivalent, ideally in the life sciences, physical sciences, or computational sciences.
• A strong background in programming, preferably in R and BASH.
• Knowledge of statistical methods either through coursework or research.
• Excellent written & verbal communication skills.
• Self-starter with excellent problem-solving, organizational and people skills.
• A minimum 2 year commitment is required.

Preferred:

• Familiarity with simple programming using Perl/Python or Java, C/C++, statistical programming using R or related tools, web-development, and database query through SQL.
• Familiarity with principles of experimental design and modern data analysis paradigms is required.
• Excellent analytical, organizational and time management skills.
• A strong interest and background in biology
• Exposure to an analytic field such as bioinformatics, computational biology, machine learning, or statistics.
• Experience working in cloud computing and UNIX environments is desirable.

The ideal candidate will have extensive programming ability and a strong background in mathematics and statistics with a deep interest and background in biology.  The ability to collaborate closely with other members of a research team is essential.

Pay Transparency Statement

The hiring range is based on market pay structures, with individual salaries determined by factors such as business needs, market conditions, internal equity, and based on the candidate’s relevant experience, skills and qualifications.

For union positions, the pay range is determined by the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)

$69,000 - $80,400

At Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, we work every day to create an innovative, caring, and inclusive environment where every patient, family, and staff member feels they belong.  As relentless as we are in our mission to reduce the burden of cancer for all, we are equally committed to diversifying our faculty and staff.  Cancer knows no boundaries and when it comes to hiring the most dedicated and diverse professionals, neither do we. If working in this kind of organization inspires you, we encourage you to apply.

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is an equal opportunity employer and affirms the right of every qualified applicant to receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, national origin, sexual orientation, genetic information, disability, age, ancestry, military service, protected veteran status, or other characteristics protected by law.

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