Postdoctoral researcher for ATHLETE Project

The Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) is a cutting-edge institute addressing global public health challenges through research, translation into policy and education. ISGlobal has a broad portfolio in communicable and non-communicable diseases including environmental and climate determinants, and applies a multidisciplinary scientific approach ranging from the molecular to the population level. Research is organized in five programs: Climate, Air Pollution, Nature and Urban Health; Environment and Health over the Lifecourse; Global Viral and Bacterial Infections; Malaria and Neglected Parasitic Diseases and Maternal Child and Reproductive Health. ISGlobal is accredited with the Severo Ochoa distinction, a seal of excellence of the Spanish Science Ministry.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

ISGlobal is seeking a postdoctoral researcher who is interested in being part of the European-funded ATHLETE (Advancing Tools for Human Early Lifecourse Exposome Research and Translation) project (https://athleteproject.eu/). The overall project goal is to better understand and prevent health effects of numerous environmental hazards and their mixtures, starting from the earliest stages of life. The specific objectives of ATHLETE are:

1) Set up a prospective Europe-wide exposome cohort covering the first two decades of the life course, building on 18 existing cohorts across Europe.
2) Measure numerous environmental exposures (urban, chemical, lifestyle and social risk factors) during pregnancy, childhood, and adolescence.
3) Link this “early-life exposome” with children’s biological responses and cardiometabolic, respiratory, and mental health.
4) Estimate the societal impact of the exposome by calculating economic costs and impacts for children’s health, in order to guide evidence-based policies and administrative decisions.

The postdoctoral researcher will participate in the analysis of the link between the early-life exposome with children’s biological responses. In particular, she/he will address the association between the in utero chemical exposome (including PFAS, phenols, phthalates, etc.) with the placental and cord blood epigenomes (including DNA methylation and miRNAs) in the context of the Barcelona Life Study Cohort (BiSC, https://projectebisc.org/en/home/) and other cohorts of the ATHLETE project. She/he will be part of the ISGlobal Environment and Health over the LifeCourse under the supervision of Dr. Vrijheid and Dr. Bustamante.

ATHLETE has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 874583.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Pre-process data on chemical exposures.
• Run epigenome-wide association studies between each chemical pollutant and each epigenetic marker.
• Conduct meta-analysis of results from different cohorts.
• Perform downstream in silico functional analyses.
• Conduct analyses to address the effect of mixtures.
• Write manuscript/s.

AUXILIAR TASKS

This job description reflects the present requirements of the post but may evolve at any time in the future as duties and responsibilities change and/or develop providing there is appropriate consultation with the post-holder.

This job description is not a definitive or exhaustive list of responsibilities but identifies the key responsibilities and tasks of the post holder. The specific objectives of the post holder will be subject to review as part of the individual professional assessment process.

SKILLS

• Responsible, flexible and with problem solving skills
• Good organization skills
• Eager to learn and proactive, and with great initiative
• Autonomousamwork.

The post holder will adhere to ISGlobal principles contained in People management policy, including Equity, diversity and health safety. The post holder will respect, and be accountable to ensure ISGlobal policies and procedures.

TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE / QUALIFICATIONS

• PhD on bioinformatics in the field of environmental and molecular epidemiology.

SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS

Prior knowledge on:

• R
• Python
• Bash script
• HPC environment

Prior experience in the analysis of:

• chemical exposure data
• next generation sequencing data (miRNAs, gut microbiota, etc.)
• DNA methylation data (EPIC array)
• biostatistics

LANGUAGE LEVEL

• Proficiency English
• Spanish is not mandatory but will be positively evaluated

CONDITIONS

• Durati