"Staff Associate I"

The Center for Infection and Immunity (CII) at Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC), Mailman School of Public Health, seeks a Staff Associate I to support laboratory and analytical research on emerging infectious and zoonotic viral diseases, with a focus on high-throughput sequencing and serology. The successful candidate will contribute to the design and optimization of molecular and serologic assays, as well as the development of data pipelines using advanced statistical and machine learning methods. This position supports federally funded initiatives applying high-throughput viral sequencing and high-throughput serology to better understand immune responses to viral infections in human, domestic, and wildlife populations under the One Health framework.

The Staff Associate I will conduct research on developing advanced serological assays for emerging viral infections; such as Dengue, Ebola, Marburg, Lassa, Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever, Nipah, Hendra, and Mpox. Working as part of a multi-disciplinary team, the candidate will investigate the diversity of viruses in human and animal populations, and explore mechanisms of viral spillover, zoonoses, and disease emergence. This role reports to a CII faculty and involves close collaboration with research scientists, statisticians, and clinical investigators at Columbia and other partner institutions.

The candidate should have strong analytical expertise, including proficiency in managing and interpreting large-scale datasets, developing reproducible workflows, and applying statistical and computational tools to identify immune markers. Experience in data visualization, data validation, and integration of molecular and/or serological results into broader research frameworks is desired for this role. The incumbent should have demonstrated basic expertise in molecular biology and experience conducting laboratory experiments, including nucleic acid extractions, PCR, cloning, sequencing (Sanger and next-generation), ELISAs, and high-density peptide microarray platforms.

Responsibilities

• Apply expertise in diagnostic techniques in molecular biology and serology; design and conduct experiments involving high-throughput sequencing and serology (25%).
• Process and analyze high-throughput sequencing and serological datasets; perform automated bioinformatic analyses (40%).
• Conduct statistical analyses, including sample size and power calculations, as well as sensitivity and specificity analysis for diagnostic assays (15%).
• Generate data visualizations and figures for manuscripts, grants, and presentations (10%).
• Assist with laboratory maintenance and other assigned duties (5%).

Requires a bachelor’s degree in relevant field plus 4 years experience

Columbia University is an Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Pay Transparency Disclosure

The salary of the finalist selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to departmental budgets, qualifications, experience, education, licenses, specialty, and training. The above hiring range represents the University’s good faith and reasonable estimate of the range of possible compensation at the time of posting.