Computational biologist position in neurogenomics and somatic mosaicism (m/f)

About us

Premier pôle européen de recherche, de soins et d’enseignement sur les maladies génétiques créé en 2007 au cœur du campus de l’Hôpital Necker-Enfants malades. Sa mission ? Mieux comprendre les maladies génétiques pour mieux les guérir.

L’Institut Imagine est un endroit unique au monde qui rassemble chercheurs, patients, médecins et personnels de santé dans une architecture créatrice de synergies au service d’une même ambition : changer la vie des familles touchées par les maladies génétiques.


Mission

A Computational Biologist position is available in the lab “Somatic mosaicism in neurodevelopment and disease” directed by Dr. Sara BIZZOTTO laboratory at the Imagine Institute/INSERM UMR1163 in Paris, France.

The Imagine Institute offers a unique scientific environment for the development of collaborative basic as well as translational research projects focused on human disease, providing ample opportunities for collaborations with top-level national and international scientists and clinicians.

Recent work has shown that each human individual is a mosaic of billions of genomes. This genomic diversity is the product of the life-long constant accumulation of somatic mosaic variants in each of our cell’s DNA. Recent technologies have allowed to explore this huge genomic diversity more in depth, providing unprecedent insights into human development, aging and disease.

Our lab studies somatic mosaicism with the objective of understanding human central nervous system development and developmental disorders, with a special focus on cell lineages. For this, we apply state-of-the-art DNA-sequencing technologies, including single-cell sequencing, as well as single-cell (multi)omics, computational biology and mathematical modeling. We work in close collaboration with clinicians at the Necker pediatric hospital.

The PI has extensive experience in neurodevelopment and neurogenomics, and in somatic mosaicism applied to lineage tracing and brain disorders (Bizzotto et al., Science 2021 ; Ganz*, Luquette*, Bizzotto* et al., Cell 2024 ; Bizzotto and Walsh, Nat Rev Neurosci 2022 ; Bizzotto et al., Biorxiv 2024 ).

We are currently looking for a talented and highly-motivated computational biologist to investigate somatic variants in the human central nervous system.




Expectations of the current post:

The selected computational biologist will analyze deep bulk whole-genome sequencing, as well as single-cell multi-omics data. The computational biologist will do so by applying dedicated existing computational tools. The computational biologist will actively participate and integrate in the research projects carried out in the team, collaborate closely with geneticists, developmental biologists and clinicians, and will be supported by the Imagine Institute bioinformatic hub made of computational biologists working in other teams as well as at the bioinformatic platform.


Profile


Qualifications :

Candidates should have:

* a computational biology background such as a Master degree or a PhD in Computational Biology/Bioinformatics/Biostatistics or similar ;

* strong programming skills (R, Python, Bash) ;

* good communication kills and proficiency in English, which is the primary language used in the lab ;

* a general interest in neurogenomics and neurodevelopment is preferred.




Salary and duration of contract :

The position is fully funded by an ERC StG for a duration of 3(+1) years.




Starting date :

Earliest starting date is 1st of April 2025




Application details :

Interested candidates should send :

* a complete CV ;

* a motivation letter ;

* and contact information for one or two references.

Pre-selected candidates will be interviewed by the PI and will have the opportunity to exchange with other members of the team during the interview process.