Summary
Date Posted: 27th May 2019 , Base Salary: Not Disclosed

JOB DETAILS:
The mission of the Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) is to strengthen health systems in Africa,with astrong emphasis on infectious diseases through research and capacity development. lDl has five operational areas through which it works to achieve its mission: Prevention, Care and Treatment; Training, Research and Laboratory services (including the CAP-certified IDI Core Lab) and Outreach.
Project Background:
With the help of lntemational and local partners, the infectious Diseases institute (IDI) has established the African Centre of Excellence (ACE) in Biointormatics and Data intensive Sciences
- Uganda at its McKinnell Knowledge Centre on the main campus of Makerere University The ACE is a specialized unit providing advanced computing infrastructure and software to enable storage, retrieval and analysis of data from high-throughput sequencing, microarrays, proteomics, imaging, clinical, epidemiological and any other data intensive studies. In addition. the ACE will host state of the art collaborative teaming technologies including a tele-learning centre, and a ifirlual Reality (VR) training room.
ln order to achieve the above objectives, IDI seeks to recruit a motivated and competent Bioinformatics Scientist (BS) for the centre as indicated below;
JOB TlTLE: Bioinformatics Scientist
Vacancy Code: BSX01
Reporting line: Director ACE
Duration: Full-time
Duty Station: Kampala
Job Summary:
The BS will be a full time staff who is familiar with
the application of computational and biotechnology capabilities to biomedical problems like genetics, clinical and medical research, as well as other data intensive analyses. By coordinating all center technical tasks and providing broad administrative oversight, s/he will have the primary responsibility for achieving the objectives and targets, and institutionalizing the policies and procedures set by the ACE management Committee on which s/he will serve as Secretary..

  Key Duties and Responsibilities:
• Synthesize and compile technical and analytical needs of incoming job requests
• Participate and take lead in analysis of genomic data generated at the institute in collaboration with researchers and principal investigators,
• Process analytical service requests through the management committee
• Guide users and centre staff in the use of biointcrmatics tools, databases and methods
• Guide users and centre staff in the use of Big Data analysis tools and methods
• Consult with the Director to resolve emerging day-to-day problems
• Propagate bioinformatics adoption within lDl and the Makerere University scientific community through demonstration of its utility in modern science
• Generate demand tor, and design strategies for meeting a wide variety of current and emerging needs for centre services
• Supervise and mentor junior staff, students and visiting scientists and provide bioinformatics technical support to staff and scientists at lDl and the wider University community
• Participate as an organizer and/or instructor of the centers training activities; short term (workshops) and long term (degree courses) in biointormatics or data intensive sciences
• Develop a dynamic reference list for data and sample repositories in lDl and the wider College of Health Sciences, which can be “mined” for biointormatics work and facilitate access to such resources
• Advocate for and support the introduction of system-wide mechanisms for integrating bio
• banking, medical /field research information (records) and genomic information in order to facilitate efficient, multi-disciplinary interaction between clinical and computational experts.
• Introduce standards to maximize re-usability of tools and data sets to increase efficiency and productivity while monitoring the environment for new needs and new trends.
• Guide centre staff in the management of ACE financial and technical resources, in facilitating ethical compliance, and in setting up appropriate programmatic reporting frameworks
• Participate in scientific writing and presentation of research findings
• Play a key role in writing grants, generating fees for services, creating partnerships and supporting other resource mobilization for the centre; manage and report on centre's financial status
• Manage the maintenance, maximum utilization and sustainability of all resources housed by the ACE including equipment and fittings in the Virtual Reality Room, the tele learning room, and the server room

Qualification Requirements:
• A minimum of PhD level training in Bioinformatics and/or Computational sciences OR a Masters in Biointormatics with at least 5 years’ high-level experience in lieu (equivalent to a senior scientist level).
• Expertise in genomics, epigenetics and computational biology (hands-on experience with the Unix platform, bioinformatics tools, bioinformatics primary and secondary databases, scripting languages such as Python, R and a strong grounding in biological sciences).
• Familiarity with commonly used bioinformatics tools (samtools, lG\l, ANNOVAR, GATK) and tile formats (BED, VCR, FASTQ, BAM)
• Familiarity with commonly used and publicly available bioinformaiics databases, (e.g. GenBank, Ensemble, DDBJ, GEO, SRA, ExAC, ESP, Clinvar, KEGG, HGMD, OMlM, PubMed, UCSC)
• An understanding of genome sequencing technologies and strategies
• Have a familiarity with big Data analysis including Artificial intelligence and Machine Learning
• Skills in design of appropriate statistical analysis of experimental data,
• Technical/scientific writing skills
• Strong project management, communication and interpersonal skills
• Membership of relevant professional networks such as the H3A, ASBCB, EASCB, ISCB and ISMB

Job Education Requirements: Masters

Job Experience Requirements: 5 years

Job Skills: Not Specified

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Job application procedure
IDI will offer a competitive remuneration package to the successful candidate, Candidates that know that they meet the above criteria and have what it takes to excel in the above position, please send their Cvs, which should include details of email address (if any), present position, current remuneration, Certificate/testimonials and address of three (3) Referees plus telephone contact to the stipulated email address not later than 7th June, 2019. (Email your application and CV to hr@idi,co.ug  and let's save the environment).
Key Notes:
1. IDI is an equal opportunity employer and does not charge a recruitment fee or any other fees at any stage of the recruitment process
2. internal candidates who meet the required specifications and have worked with IDI for a period of at least one year will be given priority.
3. Make sure that your application letter. CV and certificates are attached as one document
4. indicate the Vacancy Code as the subject for your email
5. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted
6. Any form of canvassing will lead to automatic disqualification.
The Senior Human Resource Manager
Infectious Diseases Institute - IDI
Knowledge Centre, Makerere University
Main Campus; College of Health
Sciences, Makerere University
P. O. Box 22418, Kampala, Uganda

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