Research Scientist

The CDC Foundation is seeking candidates for a Research Scientist position with laboratory experience in molecular techniques and next generation sequencing. The Research Scientist will support the Partnership for Antimalaria Resistance Monitoring in Africa (PARMA) network by implementing and evaluating the utility of the National Malaria Elimination Center (NMEC) Oxford Malaria Amplicon Drug-Resistance Sequencing (NOMADS) assay using Oxford Nanopore Technology’s (ONT) next generation sequencing (NGS) platform.
This is a full-time on-site position (40 hours per week), which will include some weekend work. The staff member will be hired and employed by the CDC Foundation and assigned to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Roybal campus in Atlanta, Georgia. The staff member will support the Laboratory Science and Diagnostics Branch in the Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID). This is an outstanding opportunity to work with the nation’s leading agency charged with protecting the public's health. The CDC Foundation offers a competitive salary and attractive benefits package. The salary for this position ranges from $95,000-$120,000 based on education and experience. This is a grant-funded position with funding through October 31, 2026.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Operationalize the NOMADS assay – order reagents and supplies, manage inventory, ensure biological and chemical risk assessments are in place or work with safety points of contact if these are missing, and draft CDC-compliant laboratory protocols and supporting documents based on published literature for utilizing the NOMADS lab assay
• Operationalize the NOMADS analysis pipeline – ensure adequate resources and computing hardware are in place for processing and contextualizing the ONT sequencing output, organize accurate tracking of ONT sequencing outputs, metadata, and results, and draft CDC-compliant analysis protocols and supporting documents based on published literature for utilizing the sequenced results of the NOMADS assay for detection of antimalarial drug resistance mutations in Plasmodium falciparum infections, genotyping, and detection of pfhrp2 and/or pfhrp3 deletion status
• Evaluate and validate the NOMADS assay – review the inventory of available malaria specimens and select appropriate testing strains and/or informative specimens for testing, optimize the assay as needed, design experiments to describe the assay performance, submit a validation plan, conduct proposed experiments, analyze resultant data, and submit a validation report
• Determine the use cases of the NOMADS assay – evaluate the ability of the assay to reliably and accurately identify antimalaria resistance markers, pfhrp2 and/or pfhrp3 deletion(s), recrudescent strains in P. falciparum infections, and/or other uses
• Work with project partners at Centre International de Recherche et de Formation en Genomique Infectieuse (CIGASS) of Universitée Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar (UCAD) and PATH to develop training resources for using the NOMADS assay and bioinformatics pipeline(s), develop accompanying checklists for evaluating training success, clearly define minimum criteria of assay outputs and expected results, and organize and conduct hands-on training
• Work with CDC colleagues and/or partners at CIGASS and/or PATH to develop an external quality assurance kit composed of control and/or informative samples, as well as stabilized DNA and/or amplicons that can be used to evaluate the performance of the NOMADS assay at various labs as positive and negative controls
• Collaborate with USAID, Ministries of Health, academic institutions, and CDC sequencing and bioinformatics experts
• Collaborate on long-term strategy to build and strengthen laboratory capacity in malaria endemic countries to support the sequencing of malaria samples and analyzing of data
• Provide oral and written project updates for internal and external audiences, present at scientific meetings, and/or publish in scientific journals
• Follow established biosafety protocols and procedures and attend necessary trainings
• As required by the project, participate in limited domestic and international travel
• Other duties as assigned

Qualifications and Skills Necessary

• Ph.D. degree in biology, public health, or related science field
• Five years of laboratory experience in molecular techniques and next generation sequencing
• Demonstrated ability to make efficient judgments regarding priorities and be largely self-directed
• Demonstrated ability to plan and manage time and effort to ensure high-quality materials are produced
• Proven ability to compile and analyze lab data
• Highly capable of tracking, summarizing, and reporting lab activities
• Strong written and verbal