Postdoc - Assistant Professor in Statistical Genetics

The O'Reilly Lab is seeking candidates for a position either as Postdoctoral Fellow ($70k-$80k) or Assistant Professor* ($110k) at Mount Sinai (New York City) with a strong statistical/computational background, passionate about developing statistical methods and software in the fields of Statistical Genetics, Computational Genetics, Bioinformatics, Population Genetics, Genetic Epidemiology or Functional Genomics. The lab has developed numerous popular methods and software tools, including for detecting selection (Ped/Pop), performing multi-trait GWAS (MultiPhen) and for conducting polygenic risk score analyses (PRSice). The lab's present major themes are:

1. Producing and analysing pathway-based Polygenic Risk Scores, leveraging multi-omics data, to understand and predict individual disease risk
2. Developing GWAS and PRS methods for admixed and diverse populations
3. Using genetics to infer the causes of disease (with a focus on brain disorders)
4. Understanding how recombination and natural selection impact on disease

For more details about the O'Reilly Lab's research and present team members see: https://labs.icahn.mssm.edu/oreillylab/

*This is a "research-track" (non-PI) position within the O'Reilly Lab (investigators at Mount Sinai can apply to transition from non-PI to PI track)

Roles & Responsibilities

There will be flexibility in what the postholder works on, across and beyond the lab themes. The postholder may wish to have a more computational focus, contributing to developing current (PRSice/PRSet etc) and novel lab tools, or statistical focus, in which they develop and test new statistical genetics methods. Examples of projects that the postholder could perform include:

• Investigation of functional convergence of disease risk, and high-order interactions across convergent pathways, using the lab's newly developed PRSet method or novel alternatives
• Stratification of individuals with a heterogenous disease into more homogenous subsets according to pathway-based polygenic risk
• Development of PRS methods tailored to diverse and admixed population samples
• Development of causal inference methods that use genetics to infer causal relationships among large multi-trait networks rather than only on one or two traits
• Inference of positive, negative and balancing selection on polygenic traits

Environment

The O'Reilly Lab is a highly inclusive, diverse and transparent working environment. The lab has contributed to establishing the Mount Sinai Data Commons (Data Ark) Open Science initiative, the Centre for Excellence in Youth Education (CEYE) Bioinformatics Program, and to progressive Parental Leave policies. The postholder will have one day per week available to use as they wish e.g. for career development activities, and will be encouraged to have a healthy work-life balance. There will be exceptionally good career progression opportunities and Dr O'Reilly will work closely with postholders to ensure their rapid promotion.

The Mount Sinai Health System encompasses the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and eight hospital campuses in the New York metropolitan area, and is internationally acclaimed for its excellence in research, patient care, and education across a range of specialties. The Icahn School of Medicine is located on the main campus next to Central Park in the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

Eligibility

Required:

• PhD in Statistical/Computational Genetics or other quantitative related field
• Strong computational skills (e.g. in R / C / Python / Bash)
• Experience working with genetic data
• Excellent written and oral communication skills

Desired:

• Good understanding of statistical or population genetic theory
• Good working knowledge of GWAS and Polygenic Risk Scores (PRS)
• Strong understanding of PRS methods and application

Starting date

The position is available immediately but there will be flexibility in starting date.

Duration

Appointment will be for a minimum of two years (see below)

Benefits

This position comes with a competitive salary, the postholder will have one working day per week to use as they wish and so the position can effectively be considered an 80% position, and the usual flexibility that comes with academic positions applies (choice of what to work on, when to work, and when to take vacations etc). Applicants from outside the US may have tax exemption for a position that lasts 2 years or less, in which case the effective gross salary would be substantially higher than advertised.

The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai offers visa sponsorship, medical benefits, subsidised child care resources, and subsidised apartment rentals in Manhattan to Postdoctoral Fellows and their families.

Apply

Please do email Dr. Paul O'Reilly (paul.oreilly@mssm.edu) with any informal initial questions or enquiries regarding the posts and Paul will be happy to discuss (please attach your CV). Formal applications for Assistant Professor should be made by email to Paul, while formal applications at the Postdoctoral Fellow level should be made using the link below:

https://careers.mountsinai.org/jobs/2762220?lang=en-us

Contact

For any questions regarding the posts please email Dr. Paul O'Reilly: paul.oreilly@mssm.edu