Postdoctoral Fellowship In Computational Biology

The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the U.S. Department of Agricultures chief scientific in-house research agency with a mission to find solutions to agricultural problems that affect Americans every day from field to table. ARS will deliver cutting-edge, scientific tools and innovative solutions for American farmers, producers, industry, and communities to support the nourishment and well-being of all people; sustain our nation's agroecosystems and natural resources; and ensure the economic competitiveness and excellence of our agriculture. The vision the agency is to provide global leadership in agricultural discoveries through scientific excellence.

Research Project: The participant will be involved in conducting research on swine viral diseases (e.g., porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus, porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, swine influenza A virus) which will include development and analysis of sequence data from available sources and past and future experimental studies for use in studying the pathogenesis, ecology, vaccinology, and protective immune response of these viruses in swine. Specifically, the participant will evaluate the host response to swine viruses by sequence analysis and collaborate as part of a team to identify mechanisms to modulate innate and adaptive immune responses to swine viral pathogens with in vivo and in vitro experiments.

Learning Objectives:
The use of sequence data to systematically profile gene response pathways by the expression pattern, ontology and pathway enrichment
Identify differences in SNCRNA, with emphasis on MIRNA and TRF expression between healthy pigs and pigs challenged with swine viruses
Define the regulatory and expression patterns of porcine interferon and interferon-stimulated gene families in response to swine virus infection
The assembly, validation, and deposition to appropriate databases of functional genomics data derived from next generation sequence techniques and/or traditional sanger sequencing
The development of computational tools to objectively define and describe genetic diversity to aid vaccination strategies and control programs
Mentor(s): The mentor for this opportunity is Laura Miller (laura.miller@usda.gov). If you have questions about the nature of the research please contact the mentor(s).

Anticipated Appointment Start Date: 2021. Start date is flexible and will depend on a variety of factors.

Appointment Length: The appointment will initially be for one year, but may be renewed upon recommendation of ARS and is contingent on the availability of funds.

Level of Participation: The appointment is full-time.

Participant Stipend: The participant will receive a monthly stipend commensurate with educational level and experience.