Summary
Date Posted: Monday, August 05 2024, Base Salary: Not Disclosed

JOB DETAILS:
Institute Overview
Ifakara Health Institute (IHI) is a leading research organization in Africa with a strong track record in developing, testing and validating innovations for health. Driven by a core strategic mandate for research, training and services, the Institute’s work now spans a wide spectrum, covering biomedical and ecological sciences, intervention studies, health-systems research and policy translation.

Position Summary
The Ifakara Health Institute in collaboration with the Ministry of Health through the National Malaria Control Programme, the President’s Office, Regional Administration, and Local Government, and the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) are jointly implementing the second phase of the Molecular Surveillance of Malaria in Mainland Tanzania (MSMT2) project. Meanwhile, IHI is seeking highly motivated and talented candidates to fill the students’ posts for the Masters of Science in Bioinformatics. Successful applicants will join our team for the MSMT2 project and contribute to its implementation. They will work closely with multidisciplinary researchers, public health professionals, and local and international stakeholders to strengthen and scale local capacity for molecular, genetic, genomic, and serological laboratory and data analytics to support Malaria Molecular Surveillance and other requirements based on the project’s objectives. The project will ultimately support policy change and informed decision-making for malaria control and elimination in Tanzania.

Duties and Responsibilities
• To help in developing and implementing pipelines for next-generation sequencing (NGS) data analysis, including quality control, alignment, variant calling, and annotation.
• To assist in performing bioinformatics analyses of genomic datasets obtained from malaria parasites under the guidance of senior researchers.
• To assist and contribute to the identification and characterization of genetic markers associated with drug and diagnostic resistance, transmission dynamics, and other epidemiologically significant trait variants.
• To assist in integrating the genomic data with clinical, epidemiological, and environmental data to provide comprehensive insights into malaria dynamics.
• To work as part of a multidisciplinary research team, integrating genomic data with other types of data to achieve project goals.
• To assist in fieldwork for the collection of samples, ensuring adherence to ethical and procedural guidelines.
• To assist in preparing progress reports and final reports for funding agencies, stakeholders, and institutional review boards.

Qualification and Experience
• Undergraduate degree or the equivalent, relevant to the area of study (e.g. biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, or mathematics).
• Pass in the first degree with a minimum GPA of 3.8.
• Prior research experience in genomics, bioinformatics, or a related field is highly advantageous.
• Preferably, candidates should have 2 to 5 years of relevant work experience in genomics, bioinformatics, computational biology, or related fields.
• Prior research experience including at least one published paper in genomics, bioinformatics, or a related field is highly advantageous.
• Candidates should have good command of English Language and basic proficiency in programming languages such as Python, R, Perl, or Java.
• Candidates should have prior experience with bioinformatics tools and databases, such as BLAST, NCBI, Ensemble, or UCSC Genome Browser. The candidate must be Tanzanian.

Skills and Competencies
• Basic analytical skills with the ability to interpret complex genomic data and draw meaningful conclusions.
• Knowledge of genomic technologies such as next-generation sequencing (NGS), microarrays, and CRISPR.
• The candidate should demonstrate a high level of independence, problem-solving ability, and team spirit.
• The candidate should submit a personal statement stating their motivation and interest in the post.



Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: 60

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

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