Post-Doctoral Research Fellow position to study the evolutionary dynamics of B cell affinity maturation. The goal of our project is to use phylogenetic and statistical methods to understand how evolutionary forces shape B cell receptor evolution during affinity maturation, and to test biological hypotheses about this process directly in human B cell repertoire data. Affinity maturation is the process by which B cells accumulate mutations and are selected for improved antigen binding, ultimately producing the antibodies that protect us from infection. Understanding this process in detail is important both for basic research, such as probing the origins of autoimmune disease, and for translational work, such as designing vaccines that elicit specific immune responses.

 

We are motivated to:

• Test biological hypotheses about affinity maturation directly against human B cell repertoire data
• Develop and apply phylogenetic and statistical methods, building on recent advances in modeling somatic hypermutation and selection, to extract this information from large-scale repertoire sequencing data
• Collaborate closely with statisticians and immunologists to connect these evolutionary models to mechanistic and clinically relevant questions.

The ideal candidate for this project would have experience with phylogenetics, population genetics, or another evolutionary framework, as well as experience with statistical modeling and computer programming. However, we welcome applications from candidates with less statistical or computational expertise but a deep desire to expand their skills in this area. We hope applicants will want to improve their coding abilities through clean coding practices, code review, and a modern development workflow. The ideal candidate would also be motivated to improve biological understanding through computation, and so would be enthusiastic about working closely with our collaborators in statistics and immunology.

 

You can find out more about our group by visiting:

http://matsen.fredhutch.org/

http://github.com/matsengrp

 

Responsibilities

We will work together to develop and apply phylogenetic and statistical methods for analyzing B cell receptor lineages, test hypotheses about affinity maturation using existing and newly collected repertoire datasets, write software implementing these methods, and write papers describing the results. You’ll have the opportunity to work with a broad range of leading researchers, including collaborators with expertise in modeling B cell repertoire dynamics and repertoire data collection.

Qualifications

Minimum qualifications:

• Ph.D. in biology, computer science, math, or another relevant area.
• Solid foundation in phylogenetics, population genetics, or another challenging evolutionary or statistical estimation problem.
• Computer programming experience.
• Clear ability to perform independent research.

The annual base salary range for this position is from $80,172 to $95,014, and pay offered will be based on experience and qualifications.Although Fred Hutch is not sponsoring most H-1B visas at this time, candidates who already hold an H-1B sponsored by another organization and are currently in the U.S. may be eligible for this position.Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center offers employees a comprehensive benefits package designed to enhance health, well-being, and financial security. Benefits include medical/vision, dental, flexible spending accounts, life, disability, retirement, family life support, employee assistance program, onsite health clinic, income-based child care subsidy, tuition reimbursement, paid vacation (22 days per year), paid sick leave (up to 30 calendar days per occurrence of a qualifying reason), paid holidays (13 days per year), and paid parental leave (up to 4 weeks).