Research Specialist

A global higher education leader in innovative teaching, research and public service, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill consistently ranks as one of the nation's top public universities. Known for its beautiful campus, world-class medical care, commitment to the arts and top athletic programs, Carolina is an ideal place to teach, work and learn.

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The overarching goal of the lab of Dr. Julia Rager is to unravel relationships between environmental exposures and health outcomes, with a focus on complex mixtures at growing prevalence in the environment. The larger program-level goal for IEHS is to optimize the health of the most vulnerable populations in North Carolina and beyond and provide innovative solutions to promote health.

The Department of Environment of Environmental Sciences and Engineering ( ESE) focuses on the interface between people and the environment with interdisciplinary programs in air quality, atmospheric processes, human exposure and health effects, and sustainable water resources, drawn from faculty expertise In the physical and life sciences engineering and policy. The Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering ( ESE) is an academic and research department located in the Gillings School of Global Public Health and has 24 faculty, 29 joint and adjunct faculty, 14 administrative staff members, and 7 research staff members. It has about 120 graduate students. The mission of the Gillings School of Global Public Health is to improve public health, promote individual well-being, and eliminate health disparities across North Carolina and around the world.

The Research Specialist will assist in the design and independently perform a variety of computational experiments aimed to understand the role of environmental pollutants and exposures on human health. This employee will investigate and develop new techniques, plan projects, analyze data, prepare and present reports, communicate and consult with colleagues, advise and train undergraduate to graduate levels students on data science driven methodology, and contribute to general laboratory maintenance. The employee will work directly with Dr. Julia Rager, who will supervise all aspects of the work performed.

Major responsibilities will include supervising experimental design, data collection, developing and establishing new statistical methods and bioinformatics/cheminformatics pipelines for high-dimensional genomics, metabolomics, exposomics, nontargeted chemical data, and multi-omics data integration. Responsibilities will also include discovering new research hypothesis using data mining strategies, performing statistical analyses of high quality, accuracy and consistency for research projects, writing and revising research proposals and grants, statistical power calculations, and training/advising students and postdoctoral researchers on statistical methods and data analyses. The successful candidate will have statistical computational background and expertise in analyzing high-dimensional genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, exposomics and nontargeted chemical data to support research activities of the team.

Bachelor's degree in a discipline related to the area of assignment; or equivalent combination of training and experience. All degrees must be received from appropriately accredited institutions.

Though applicants with experience in all areas of statistics and data science are encouraged to apply, we recognize a general need and will give preference for skills and knowledge in the following areas:
- Degree in Environmental Sciences, Data Science, Bioinformatics, Biostatistics, or related field from appropriately accredited institutions.
- Expertise in a range of advanced statistical methodologies with application to high-dimensional data analysis.
- Demonstrated expertise and experience in statistical analysis for large data sets related to biomedical and/or environmental health research.
- Excellent skills in programming in several languages, including Python and R, in complex data analyses.
- Experience in analyzing omics data, including genomics, metabolomics, exposomics and chemical data.
- Experience in advanced data visualizations and figure generation.
- Experience in writing grant proposals and manuscripts.
- Experience in advising and training students and consulting research projects.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills for research presentations.

Excellent written and oral communication skills are needed. Outstanding programing skills (R and Python preferred) for omics data analysis. Capacity for learning new technical skills independently.

If you experience any problems accessing the system or have questions about the application process, please contact the Office of Human Resources at (919) 843-2300 or send an email to employment@unc.edu

Please note: The Office of Human Resources will not be able to provide specific updates regarding position or application status.

The University is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes all to apply without regard to age, color, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation. We encourage all qualified applicants to apply, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.