Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Position Title

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Biostatistics

The Huttenhower lab at the Broad Institute and the Departments of Biostatistics, Immunology, and Infectious Diseases at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is seeking one or more postdoctoral fellows. The successful candidate(s) will work broadly in microbiome population studies and molecular multi‑omics, with specifics to be determined by individual interest and experience. Funded projects with open positions include:

• Computational methods development and consortium data management for the Human Virome Program, which aims to characterize viral (phage and eukaryotic) communities across the human body in health and disease.
• Integration of host and microbiome multi‑omics for early‑onset colorectal cancer biomarker development and prevention.
• Human‑animal microbiome interactions and microbiome biochemical responses to nutrition using canine and feline companion animal models, in collaboration with Hill’s Pet Nutrition.
• Characterization of the oral (tongue swab) microbiome in chronic cardiometabolic disease, particularly coronary heart disease and type 2 diabetes, using a subset of the 20,000 individuals enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study II Micro‑N (Microbiome among Nurses) study.

The incumbent will be an integral member of the group, collaborating with postdocs, research staff, students, and established software development teams. The lab represents a convergence of microbial ecology, bioinformatics, biostatistics, molecular microbiology, computer science, and software development.

• Proficiency with analytical methods for microbiome data, especially computational approaches for metagenomic and metatranscriptomic profiling, multi‑omic integration (e.g. with metabolomics or genetics), and their application in population studies.
• Familiarity with computational environments for ‘omics data manipulation (command line, Python, R, etc.).
• Deep knowledge in at least one relevant subdiscipline (bioinformatics, microbiology, microbial ecology, biostatistics, epidemiology, nutrition, immunology, or similar).
• Presentation of results to collaborators and local, national, and international scientific audiences with broad backgrounds.
• Optional mentoring and/or teaching opportunities in the context of Ph.D. students from the Harvard Chan School / Harvard Medical School, junior scientists, and Harvard and public guest lectures and short course workshops.
• Regular interaction with internal and external contacts, including Harvard scientists, collaborators, students, postdocs, and external clinicians and industry leaders.
• Collaboration with teams of students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty associated with both the Huttenhower lab and the broader Harvard Chan Microbiome in Public Health Center on microbiome bioactive discovery and translation.

• Ph.D. in Computational Biology, Molecular Biology, Computer Science, Biostatistics or related fields. Some experience with microbiome, microbiological, or molecular ‘omics preferred.
• Familiarity with methods for high‑throughput sequence analysis, ideally microbial community metagenomics and/or microbial genetics.
• Excellent record of scientific contributions, publications, and presentations; primary or key author on one or more major presentations and papers.
• Ability to handle a variety of tasks, solve problems with numerous and complex variables, and shift priorities rapidly.
• Demonstrated success in working on complex, novel research problems in a collegial environment.
• Creativity, curiosity, and the desire, persistence and ability to create scientific advances in human microbiome science.

Please send application materials (CV and cover letter) along with contact information for at least three references to

Nicole Levesque – [email protected]

$75,000 per year

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• Curriculum Vitae
• Cover Letter