Postdoctoral fellow: Bioinformatics, Phenotypes

We are recruiting a postdoc with training in bioinformatics who
is interested in studying phenotypic evolution by combining model
organism genetic data with comparative anatomical data from throughout
the vertebrates.

One of the biggest challenges in systems biology is the inclusion of
whole organism phenotypes.  In the Phenoscape group, we have developed
ontology-based methods for representing phenotypes of diverse species in
order to integrate them with model organism developmental and genetic
data,. We have collected these data in a sophisticated Knowledgebase,
which has an initial focus on the diversity of phenotypes in ostariophysan
fish, including zebrafish (kb.phenoscape.org). We are currently scaling
up our approach to the vertebrates as a whole, with a goal of allowing
similarities to be identified between phenotypes from sources as diverse
as dinosaur fossils and mouse knockout mutants.

We invite postdoctoral applicants to propose an independent project that
uses the Phenoscape Knowledgebase as a research platform.  In particular,
we are interested in projects that will leverage functional genomic data
to study the evolution of whole-organism phenotype in nonmodel organisms.

The postdoc will work under the direction of Paula Mabee (University of
South Dakota) and Todd Vision (University of North Carolina), as part of a
distributed, multidisciplinary team that includes evolutionary biologists,
computer scientists, model organism experts, and bioinformaticists.
It will be based in South Dakota, with opportunities to travel to other
sites, including the National EvolutionarySynthesis Center (NESCent),
the University of Chicago, and the California Academy of Sciences.

Starting date: This two year postdoctoral position is available to be
filled as early as September 2012.

Required qualifications:
· Ph.D. degree with strong background in bioinformatics; previous
experience with ontologies preferred

 *   Experience in functional genomics or developmental biology
 *   Demonstrated communication and writing skills, in English
 *    Demonstrated ability to work in a team setting

How to apply:
Please contact Dr. Mabee (pmabee@usd.edu) for inquiries. Applications
should be directed to Dr. Mabee and include a cover letter, CV, a brief
statement detailing your research interests and career goals, and three
letters of reference.

For more information, please see https://phenoscape.org and
http://kb.phenoscape.org/.