Assistant Research Officer Job in Kenya - NGO

Assistant Research Officer

KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme (KWTRP) is one of the leading research centres in Africa. The Programme engages in a wide range of research on the main causes of ill health in Africa.The Bioscience department, KWTRP is seeking to appoint a postdoctoral researcher to work in the Next Generation
 (9 Months Contract)

Roles

To undertake sequencing and bioinformatics analysis for a project aimed at understanding the transmission pathways of respiratory viruses in Kenya.  Viruses under investigation include rhinovirus, respiratory syncytial virus, influenza, coronavirus, and human metapneumovirus.
·         Implementing, optimizing and troubleshooting viral pathogen sequencing protocols
·         Developing a multi-species whole genome sequencing method for rhinovirus to investigate sequences in large archive of respiratory samples
·         Molecular diagnostic screening for a range of virus targets in archived and ongoing respiratory samples collections
·         Assembling viral sequence contigs from the raw sequencing reads derived from next generation sequencers
·         Performing phylogenetic analyses, producing reports and presenting arising results
·         Contributing to scientific manuscripts and other dissemination activities

Qualifications:

·         BSc in Medical Laboratory Science and Technology, Molecular Biology Bioinformatics, or similar (Upper second honors or higher)
·         At least 1 year experience in virus molecular diagnostics
·         Experience in virus whole genome sequencing using Sanger and NGS methods

·         Previous experience in rhinovirus typing and sequencing
·         Capability in bioinformatics and phylogenetic analysis of sequence data
·         Undertaken a Post-Graduate Diploma in relevant subject area
·         Knowledge and capability in programming for sequence data manipulations (e.g. R, python)
·         A one-year research experience and evidence of scientific publication/contribution
Skills and Competence:
·         Understanding of virus sequencing including NGS and phylogenetics
·         The ability to plan own workload and keep accurate scientific records.
·         Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
·         Ability to organize work to changing priorities is essential
Relationships:
·         Working in collaboration with members of the Viral Epidemiology and Control (VEC) group (laboratory and research), and with relevant Programme scientists such as those linked to Kilifi Bioinformatics Core (KBiC).
How to Apply