The Omics Data Science lab has recently secured funding within the Public Health Agency of Canada towards building a generalized machine learning framework for omics data to tackle questions in public health.  We are seeking two full-time MSc students in the Biochemistry and Medical Genetics department at the University of Manitoba. Students will learn, adopt and modify previous bioinformatics and machine learning work from the Chen lab to apply to their respective projects. The students will be affiliated with the National Microbiology Laboratory Branch, Public Health Agency of Canada through the Federal Research Affiliation Program. Please note: Due to the complexity in security clearance required for the positions, we can only consider Canadian citizens and land immigrants who ideally have resided in Canada for the past 10 years. Thank you for your interest.

Project(s)

• [The genOmicsML project - TB application]: The MSc student will focus analytically on M. tuberculosis genomic data processing and machine learning applications to classify genotypes and outbreak clusters as well as identify drug resistant biomarkers. The student will be co-supervised by Dr. Julie Chih-yu Chen (primary) and Dr. Hafid Soualhine. 

Qualifications The emphasis for the two positions can differ.

·        Knowledge in analytical sciences (Math/Stats/Comp Sci)

·        Good knowledge and experience with R or Python languages

·        Basic understanding of molecular biology, omics technologies, or microbiology

·        Good GPA

·        Good communication skills in English

Additional information

Students will be hired through the Research Affiliate Program in the Canadian Federal Government with a maximum and taxable annual salary of $29,500 and $31,800 for the first and second years, respectively. Successful secret security clearance is required for both positions. Medical clearance will be required for the second position due to the wet lab component. As the security clearance can take months, interested applicants are encouraged to reach out as soon as possible. 

To apply, please send your Cover Letter, CV/resume, transcripts in an email with the subject line "[MSc app] YOUR NAME" to Dr. Julie Chen at julie.chen [at] umanitoba [dot] ca