Job Description

Description

West Virginia University Health Science Center is currently accepting applications for a Temporary Research Assistant with Microbiology, Immunology & Cell Biology

About the Opportunity

Dr. Hu’s laboratory at WVU advocates for innovative uses of large language model (LLM) chatbots in education, research, and clinical domains. We believe that chatbots are poised to revolutionize bioinformatics data analysis, a vision we've coined as "prompt bioinformatics". Our cutting-edge work is reflected in our recent publications, with PMIDs: 37378043, 37482573, and 37546795.

The mountaineer temp position involves leveraging prompt engineering expertise to design and test innovative bioinformatics prompt pipelines and accumulate use cases. Additionally, the selected candidate will contribute to TEAM SCIENCE by providing bioinformatics analysis to biomedical researchers at Health Science Center.

What you’ll do:

Prompt Pipeline Development: Design, draft, validate, optimize, document, and maintain pipelines for bioinformatics data analysis.
Knowledgebase Establishment: Accumulate and document diverse use cases, forming a comprehensive knowledgebase for prompt bioinformatics.
Collaborative Data Analysis: Conduct bioinformatics analysis to support Team Science at HSC
Knowledge Transfer: Share skills, code, and insights acquired in this role with graduate and undergraduate students, as well as fellow research staff within the lab.
Detailed Record Keeping: Maintain detailed logs of work-related activities, capturing lab methods, procedures, and results for both in-house and collaborative research endeavors.
Reporting & Presentation: Prepare and present computational findings to collaborators, the Principal Investigator (PI), at conferences, and for publications.
Manuscript Assistance: Support the PI in drafting and refining research manuscripts for publication.
Length of Assignment: Approximately 8.5 months

Pay Grade: 15


Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering, bioinformatics, or a closely related discipline; Or equivalent combination of education and experience.
A minimum of 0-6 months demonstrated experience contributing to Team Science by analysis data in a bioinformatics Core setting.
Programming Expertise: Proficient in languages such as C++, Python, R, and others.
LLM Application Insight: Familiarity with the contemporary uses of LLM in coding.
Biology Knowledge: Fundamental understanding of molecular and cell biology concepts.
Collaborative Spirit: Effective collaboration with multi-disciplinary teams, including co-investigators and researchers.
Language Proficiency: Strong communication skills in English.
Scientific Approach: Expertise in applying scientific rules and methods to solve challenges.
Strategic Planning: Ability to strategize for the progression of research programs.
Documentation Skills: Proficiency in recording data analysis procedures and presenting research outcomes.
Research Communication: Aptitude for writing articles suitable for publications and conference presentations.
Presentation & Writing Skills: Capable of delivering group presentations, participating actively in meetings, and communicating clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences. Demonstrated ability to write and edit comprehensively, tailoring style as needed, and adeptly presenting/interpreting data in various formats.
Problem Solving: Ability to define issues, gather and assess information, pinpoint challenges, explore alternatives, and work collaboratively to find solutions in a timely manner.
Time Management: Commitment to meeting deadlines and efficiently preparing, presenting, and reporting results.