Bioinformatician

GBRU works at local/regional/national/international levels to reduce the impact of food, water and environmentally borne illnesses on people's health. Activities include provision of bacterial typing services to assist national surveillance, detection and investigation of outbreaks and specialist microbiological services for the examination of clinical, food, water and environmental samples. Currently a combination of phenotypic and genotypic methods is used to detect/identify and type bacterial isolates, increasingly involving use of whole genome sequencing. We are streamlining workflows for different pathogens across the unit to facilitate implementation of new technology and maintaining the capability to perform standard reference methods. GBRU has a high propriety in ensuring the safe running of laboratory services and the safety of all staff., GBRU undertakes surveillance, advises on outbreak investigation and on any public health risk. With the increasing development of genomics including the generation of sequence data from whole genomic sequencing, this role is key to supporting the Unit with necessary bioinformatic expertise and advice regarding appropriate analysis tools, equipment and procedures for the analysis of complex scientific information for the development and support of reference services. The appointee will support development of bioinformatics and public health informatics for GBRU:

• Compile, in appropriate databases and formats, complex data arising from whole-genome sequencing (WGS) from a range of gastrointestinal bacterial pathogens.
• Support the development bioinformatics tools and pipelines suitable for analysis and comparison of the genome sequences generated.
• Undertake analyses on data arising from WGS for reference service delivery, including outbreak analysis, bacterial discrimination, and service development projects, and to assist in the timely generation of meaningful reports to customers.
• Support preparation of reports, posters and publications arising from data at national and international meetings.
• Contribute to day-to-day running and maintenance of the software and computer systems delivering existing Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) pipelines.
  
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