Microbiologist III

Microbiologist IIIIHRC Inc. seeks a dedicated and experienced Microbiologist to support our clients at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)/Coronavirus and Other Respiratory Viruses Division (CORVD). CORVD's mission is to provide the health of people by preventing illness, disability and death from respiratory viruses through public health science and practice in the United States and globally. This position is needed for accomplishing CORVD's mission.Provide laboratory diagnostic and molecular surveillance support. Example activities are:Perform molecular assays to detect, type, and characterize respiratory viruses and viral vaccine preventable diseasesDesign, evaluate, and distribute diagnostic platforms for the detection of COVID and other respiratory virusesParticipate in burden of disease studies and etiology studies of respiratory diseases to investigate the potential association and possible causes of respiratory virusesWork within guidelines of auditing bodies such as CMS or CAPContribute to organizational activities that promote laboratory safety, laboratory quality management systems (QMS), and effective specimen managementProvide laboratory immunological and virological support. Example activities are:Perform serological surveillance for respiratory viruses and assessment of vaccine response in single plex or multiplex formatContribute to the development of new serological assays for surveillance of and evaluation of vaccine response to respiratory virusesPerform advanced cellular immunological assessment of the T cell and B cell response to respiratory virus infection and vaccinationDevelop monoclonal antibodies against respiratory viruses for small scale production and assessment in serological assaysGenerate and characterize respiratory virus isolatesPerform assays to characterize neutralizing antibodies against respiratory virusesDraft SOPS, worksheets, job aids, validation plans, and validation reportsMaintain medical clearance required for working in laboratory that may include respiratory fit testingAttend weekly team meetings, and provide information on current activitiesPrepare documentation and laboratories for internal and external auditsProvide laboratory respiratory virus sequencing support. Example activities are:Contribute to adaptation of molecular techniques to automated platforms in use in CORVD (e.g., PerkinElmer Zephyr and Tecan Fluent)Participate in burden of disease studies and etiology studies of respiratory diseases to investigate the potential association and possible causes of respiratory virusesPerform advanced molecular detection and sequencing assays and provide technical support in investigation of unknown etiology of severe cases and outbreaks using pathogen discovery approachesParticipate in laboratory research that will result in the development and application of advanced molecular techniques and high throughput sequencing analysis to detect and characterize both known and novel emerging virusesOther activities may include:Draft SOPS, worksheets, job aids, validation plans, and validation reportsMaintain medical clearance required for working in laboratory that may include respiratory fit testingAttend weekly team meetings, and provide information on current activitiesPrepare documentation and laboratories for internal and external audits, and maintain laboratory recordsWrite abstracts for presentations at national or international conferencesPresent work at national or international conferencesContribute to preparation and publication of peer reviewed manuscriptRequirements:MS with 10+ years' experience or PhD with 7-10+ years' experienceWork experience in the scientific field, including microbiologist, research microbiologist, biologist, health scientist or related field (preferably in a public health setting)Knowledge and experience of sequencing assays and sequencing platformsAbility to identify gaps in existing resourcesDesired Requirements:Demonstrated experience performing wet and dry laboratory workProficient in sequencing (WGS) and bioinformatics analysisDemonstrated experience in bioinformatics pipeline/workflow developmentProficiency in programming and coding as required for running NGS protocolsKnowledge of and experience working with clinical dataKnowledge of and experience working with human specimensExpertise in the use of Microsoft Office productsAbility to be flexibleInterpersonal communication: telephone, email, and business etiquetteStrong proofreading skill and attention to detailStrong organizational skillsExperience working with CDC/NCIRDLanguage Skills:The candidate must possess excellent oral and written communication skills in EnglishRequirement:Must be United States citizen or permanent resident or have authorization for employment in the United StatesSalary: Commensurate with qualifications and experience