We are seeking an exceptional postdoctoral researcher to join our interdisciplinary team working at the intersection of infectious disease epidemiology and environmental science. This position focuses on developing molecular and genomic tools and computational modeling to understand viral transmission, evolution, and ecology through wastewater surveillance data. Funding is available to support this position for 3+ years.

What we do here changes the world. UTHealth Houston is Texas' resource for healthcare education, innovation, scientific discovery, and excellence in patient care. That's where you come in.

Once you join us you won't want to leave. It's because we reward our team for the excellent service they provide. Our total rewards package includes the benefits you'd expect from a top healthcare organization (benefits, insurance, etc.), plus:

• 100% paid medical premiums for our full-time employees
• Generous time off (holidays, preventative leave day, both vacation and sick time - all of which equates to around 37-38 days per year)
• The longer you stay, the more vacation you'll accrue!
• Build your future with our awesome retirement/pension plan!

We take care of our employees! As a world-renowned institution, our employees' wellbeing is important to us. We offer work/life services such as...

• Free financial and legal counseling
• Free mental health counseling services
• Gym membership discounts and access to wellness programs
• Other employee discounts including entertainment, car rentals, cell phones, etc.
• Resources for child and elder care
• Plus many more!

Position Summary:

The lab is young and enthusiastic about innovative and quality research. We believe interdisciplinarity is the future. The PI, Dr. Fuqing Wu, has experience in virology, microbiology, synthetic biology, mathematical modeling, microbiome, environmental surveillance, and genomic sequencing. The lab is currently focused on wastewater surveillance and microbiome projects, but we support you to explore your ideas with available laboratory resources. The PI is highly supportive of proposal writing, career development, and mentorship to help you achieve your professional goals. See Lab web page for more details: https: //www.wufqlab.org/ . The candidate will benefit from exceptional opportunities to collaborate with leading researchers across UTHealth, the world's largest medical center (Texas Medical Center), and top-tier universities nationwide.

A biomedical postdoc position provides an opportunity for early-career researchers to gain valuable experience, develop independent research skills, and contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge in their field of expertise.

Position Key Accountabilities:

1. Plans and conducts experiments, analyzes data, and prepares publications describing results.
2. Assists in training and mentoring of lab personnel, including graduate students and other trainees.
3. Reads and evaluates literature.
4. Possess interpersonal skills to effectively collaborate and communicate with individuals at all levels.
5. Have strong written and oral communication skills.
6. Performs other duties as assigned.

Preferred Skills:

• Extensive wet lab experience in molecular biology and microbiology techniques
• Experience with complete NGS workflows from library preparation through bioinformatics analysis, including viral genomics, amplicon sequencing, and metagenomics.
• Experience with wastewater-based epidemiology or environmental virology
• Experience in mathematical modeling

Minimum Education:

• Doctoral/Terminal Degree
• PhD in Environmental Microbiology, Bioinformatics, Quantitative Biology, Computational Biology, or related field.

Physical Requirements:

Exerts up to 20 pounds of force occasionally and/or up to 10 pounds frequently and/or a negligible amount constantly to move objects.

Security Sensitive:

This job class may contain positions that are security sensitive and thereby subject to the provisions of Texas Education Code § 51.215

Residency Requirement:

Employees must permanently reside and work in the State of Texas.