Job Information
Case Western Reserve University Postdoctoral Research Scholar - Population Quantitative Health Sciences in Cleveland, Ohio
Posted October 25, 2023 Postdoctoral Research Scholar: About us: Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is among the nation's leading private research institutions. Founded in 1826, CWRU is distinguished by its strengths in education, research, service, and experiential learning. CWRU School of Medicine (SOM) is ranked nationwide in the top 25 research medical schools and in the top 20 for research funding from the National Institutes of Health. The CWRU SOM is affiliated with some of the best hospitals in the United States, such as University Hospitals Case Medical Center (UHCMC), Cleveland Clinic Foundation (CCF), The Metro Health System (MHS) and Louis Stokes Cleveland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Through these partnerships, cutting-edge technologies, research facilities and collaborative opportunities are accessible to our research team. The successful candidate will have chances to work with researchers in the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center (CCCC), Cleveland Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (CADRC), Case Western Reserve University for AIDS Research (Case CFAR), and The Cleveland Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) Center. Duties and Responsibility: The Zhang Omics lab is actively seeking a postdoctoral research scholar specializing in Bayesian analysis. On the model-driven research side, the primary focus will be on developing Bayesian variable selection models and structured shrinkage priors, primarily applied to the analysis of microbiome 16S rRNA sequencing data. The unique characteristics of microbiome data, including zero-inflation, compositional nature, high dimensionality, and tree-based structures, necessitate interdisciplinary approaches such as compositional data analysis, random variable transformation, hierarchical models, and sampling computations. On the data-driven application side, the research goal of our team is to utilize statistical methods to translate the large medical data from benchwork to knowledge in precision medicine. Collaborating with partners, we aim to integrate state-of-the-art biotechnologies with diverse molecular-level data types to facilitate biomedical discoveries. The candidate will be actively engaged in collaborative research within campus and across institutions, spanning areas such as Cancer, HIV, aging, with the specific research focus customizable to align with the candidate's interests. The candidate will play a pivotal role in all aspects of statistical considerations from early phase engagement, data management, modeling, data analysis, to the final stage of research report and scientific dissemination from a variety of research projects (clinical and pre-clinical) across campus. Teamworking with members of the broader CINEMA group https://cwru-cinema.com/people/, the candidate can gain research experience in analysis of large clinical datasets (such as electronic health record data) and/or -omics, imaging (biomarker identification). This position offers a platform for career development in advancing biomedical data analytics and honing project management skills. Position Qualifications: The candidate should have a recent PhD's degree in statistics, biostatistics, applied mathematics, computer science or related field. Experience with Bayesian hierarchical modeling analysis Programming experience in statistical program R and scripting languages such as Python/Perl on Unix/Linux systems is required. These skills can be improved on the job. Candidates should be self-motivated to pick up new skills. Knowledge in biology, genetics or genomics is desired but not required. Preference will be given to candidates with solid training in statistical modeling and programming, and excellent communication and scientific writing skills. Top candidates should have quantitative background in Bayesian analysis, variable selection, tree-based methods, multi-omics, Alzheimer's di