Jobs

Project Title: Polygenic Risk Score development for chronic low back pain

Professors Carolina Meloto and Audrey Grant are hiring one PhD student at the Faculty of Dental Medicine and Oral Health Sciences at McGill University. This research opportunity is focused on applied approaches directed towards prevention of chronic low back pain (cLBP) development. Broadly, chronic pain is defined based on the persistence of pain experience for over three months and represents a substantial public health burden with a prevalence of 20 % in the general population, with cLBP as the most common chronic pain condition. Accurately predicting individuals who are at risk of cLBP is a vital step needed to enable cLBP prevention strategies. Despite cLBP having a sizable genetic heritability, models proposed to predict cLBP development are based on biopsychosocial measures and do not incorporate genetic variability. Here, we will capitalize on large scale biobanks available to our teams to derive and assess the performance (discrimination, calibration, and accuracy) of a polygenic risk score (PRS) that predicts cLBP development. We plan to use cutting edge methodology and new data resources to maximize predictive performance of the PRS.

Within this project funded by the ADlab laboratory (Arnaud Droit Lab, compbio.ca), the main goal will be to transform the access and analysis of biological knowledge databases (BKDs) through the integration of these databases into a knowledge graph and the use of large language models (LLMs). This initiative aims to facilitate natural querying of biological data, making research more accessible to biologists without specific expertise in programming or data analysis. The main objectives include:

• Building a biological knowledge graph that integrates multiple BKDs to improve their cohesion and extract valuable information.
• Developing and training specific LLMs capable of interpreting and querying this graph in natural language.
• Creating and evaluating a conversational agent based on these LLMs, to allow intuitive querying of BKDs using natural language requests.

A fully funded PhD position is available at United Arab Emirates University. The project involves integrating mathematical models of the date palm tree with Omics data to explore the impact of both biotic and abiotic stresses.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
– Proficiency in programming languages, particularly R/MATLAB/PYTHON.
– IELTS score of > 6.5 (mandatory)
– Basic knowledge in plant molecular biology, metabolism, and growth.
– Experience in RNA extractions and NGS analysis.

ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
– Understanding of biological networks.
– Deep knowledge in the field of Mathematical modeling.
– Experience in plant growth experiments.
– Strong academic background.

If interested, please forward your CV and a compelling statement of intent to tauqeer.uaeu@gmail.com

only shortlisted candidate will be contacted.

All the best

• An interdisciplinary and collaborative environment that supports innovation and professional development of team members.
• Participation in the development of a young university team with creative freedom.
• The possibility of independent scientific project work.
• Collaboration with national and international teams and consortia.
• Payment in accordance with collective bargaining law (special annual payment, public service pension scheme, asset-related benefits) incl. 30 days annual leave
• Support and guidance during your onboarding phase
• Remuneration at the TV-L E13 (75%) salary level,  with annual nonus.
• A family-friendly environment with flexible working hours (flexitime) and the possibility of pro-rata mobile work
• Benefits from the university’s health promotion program
• An extensive and free further education program as well as programs geared toward the promotion of early career researchers (https://uol.de/en/school6/early-career)

Department: Pathobiology
Description of the Area/Topic of Research:

The Ricker lab at the University of Guelph is currently recruiting 1 PhD student and 1 post-doctoral fellow or research associate, in collaboration with Dr. Hany Anany (AAFC), for projects recently funded through the Canadian Poultry Research Council (CPRC) and Agriculture-AgriFood Canada (AAFC).

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the largest human health concerns of this generation, as the continued emergence of resistance threatens to interfere with our ability to treat and prevent human infectious diseases. Combating AMR requires a One Health approach, combining efforts at limiting resistance emergence and spread within human, animal and environmental reservoirs.

We are currently seeking two candidates (a PhD student and a postdoctoral fellow) for a 4-year project investigating the use of phage to control Salmonella within the poultry industry. The successful candidates will meet or exceed the minimum academic requirements for entry to a PhD program, have a relevant publication record appropriate to their current career stage, and have previous experience working with phage. An interest in the combination of microbiology techniques and bioinformatic approaches is essential. Experience in metagenomics, phage biology, phage-host interactions, designing and performing bacterial challenge studies and/or viromics are all considered strong assets. Work will be performed at both the University of Guelph and AAFC in Guelph under joint supervision of Drs. Ricker and Anany.

Funding for this project is pending final confirmation and a start date of May 1, 2024 is preferred but is negotiable.

Description of Lab/Group/Area: Dr Ricker is an early career researcher recruited to the University of Guelph through the Food from Thought program for her expertise in microbial community analysis and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in agriculture.  Her developing research program focuses on AMR prevalence in bacterial communities, horizontal gene transfer mechanisms, promotion of healthy gut microbial communities, and the impact of mitigation strategies on the emergence, persistence, and dissemination of AMR and pathogens in a One Health framework.

Dr. Anany is a Bacteriophage Research Scientist at the Guelph Research and Development Center (GRDC), Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. In addition, he serves as an Adjunct Professor at the Food Science Department, University of Guelph. His research program focuses on understanding phage biology and its interaction with bacterial hosts for taxonomical and application purposes throughout the food supply chain. Dr. Anany’s research program also extends to exploring the composition and dynamics of the phageome /virome throughout the food supply chain, aiming to deepen our understanding of these complex viral communities and their role in food safety.