PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Req #: | 171896 |
Department: | DEPARTMENT OF GENOME SCIENCES |
Job Location: | Health Sciences Center, Seattle Campus |
Posting Date: | 09/10/2019 |
Closing Info: | Open Until Filled |
Salary: | Salary is commensurate with qualifications and experience. |
Shift: | First Shift |
Notes: |
As a UW employee, you will enjoy generous benefits and work/life programs.
For detailed information on Benefits for this position, click here. |
UW faculty and staff also enjoy outstanding benefits, professional growth opportunities and unique resources in an environment noted for diversity, intellectual excitement, artistic pursuits and natural beauty. All of which has allowed the UW to be nationally recognized as a “Great College to Work For” for five consecutive years.
The Department of Genome Sciences has an outstanding opportunity for a Program Director.
The individual hired to this position will serve as the Program Director for the Seattle Respiratory Pathogen Study, a major initiative that we are launching over the 2019-20 influenzae season. This is a complex position involving the direction and coordination of efforts by lab personnel, computational biologists, clinicians at UW, SCCA, SCH, faculty at all three Brotman Baty Institute (BBI) affiliated institutions and external partners (e.g. other health networks, Gates Foundation, large local employers, FDA, CDC, etc.), and funders.
The Seattle Respiratory Pathogen Study is a major initiative with the potential to transform the paradigm for how pathogens with pandemic potential are monitored and controlled. In brief, we propose to accrue samples from a sizable fraction of cases of influenza-like illness (ILI) in a major metropolitan area (Seattle) and subject them to high-throughput sequencing. In addition to more traditional clinical sources, samples will be crowd-sourced directly from participants. Individuals with influenza-like symptoms will register online, receive a package with a specimen collection kit, self-collect a nasal swab, and return it by mail. Participants will also be engaged in settings such as workplaces, daycares and airports. Specimens will be rapidly sequenced as they arrive into the lab. The resulting data will yield an unprecedentedly deep view into pathogen transmission and evolution in the course of a single respiratory season. As equally important outcomes, this project will create a testbed for running trials of non-vaccine interventions in a community setting, as well as an open-source data/technology stack of pathogen genomes, recruitment tools, experimental protocols, and analysis software (“ID cloud”) that will facilitate worldwide collaboration.
In the short term, the Program Director will ensure initial elements of the planning phase for the Seattle Respiratory Pathogen Study are completed in a timely manner:
Oversee drafting and compilation of core proposal to bgC3. Project members will draft a detailed plan that includes a description of the year 1 pilot project to sequence pathogen genomes from 10k flu-positive cases from a single season in Seattle. This core project involves (1) a clinical component of enrollment of clinical participants as well as direct-to-participant mailings of collection kits, (2) a laboratory component of protocol development, high-throughput diagnostics and viral genome sequencing and (3) an informatic component of cloud-based databasing, assembly of consensus genomes, phylogenetic reconstruction of Seattle transmission chains and development of visualization platform.
Draft and finalize auxiliary components. The central system would enable a variety of auxiliary components, including supplemental sample collection modalities (day cares, workplaces, etc...), metagenomic sequencing of human and pathogen genomes, serological analysis to explore host immune factors and home diagnostics. These will be drafted as secondary aims that may or may not be included along with the core proposal.
Set up pipeline for preliminary sequencing of existing clinical samples. Current IRBs permit sequencing of existing residual clinical specimens. In order to hit the aggressive timelines proposed, we need to start now on protocol development. Here, we plan to sequence 96 influenza positive samples and compare PCR and capture-based methods. We will additionally immediately test performance of different swabs and transport media through experiments with swabbing patients at UW Medical Center.
Oversee Establishment of the infrastructure for enrollment at clinical sites, community sites, and DTC enrollment. For clinical, this includes reaching out to the five major hospital groups (University of Washington, Fred Hutchinson, Harborview, Seattle Children’s, Kaiser-Group Health), meeting with clinicians, and engaging the clinical laboratories and infection control groups, as well as the outpatient pediatric and adult primary care clinics. For community, we need to meet and receive approval from childcare facilities, homeless shelters, and long-term care facilities. For DTC, we need to work out logistics of establishing “pop-up” clinics downtown, at a corporation (e.g. Microsoft, Amazon, Boeing), and meet and receive approval. We need to develop a master protocol for clinical recruiting, as well as protocols for specimen collection, questionnaires, and consent, and to obtain IRB approval for all of these sites through a central IRB. Although all of these activities will continue into the pilot year, we need to begin immediately.
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
Advanced degree (e.g. PhD) with a minimum of 10 years of post-degree experience in the management of complex scientific projects or programs in a relevant field such as genomics or genetics.
DESIRED REQUIREMENTS
Knowledge of and familiarity with UW School of Medicine and Health Sciences colleges and departments is desired but not required.
Committed to attracting and retaining a diverse staff, the University of Washington will honor your experiences, perspectives and unique identity. Together, our community strives to create and maintain working and learning environments that are inclusive, equitable and welcoming.
The University of Washington is a leader in environmental stewardship & sustainability, and committed to becoming climate neutral.
The University of Washington is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer. To request disability accommodation in the application process, contact the Disability Services Office at 206-543-6450 / 206-543-6452 (tty) or dso@uw.edu.