Job Description

The Centre for Outbreak Preparedness (“COP”) at Duke-NUS works across Signature Research Programmes and centres to advance regional health security in low resourced countries across Asia. A key pillar of COP’s outbreak response and preparedness efforts in the region is through strengthening access and capacity for pathogen genomic surveillance. Duke-NUS is the secretariat for the Asian Pathogen Genomics Initiative (Asia PGI), which works with national and academic institutions from 15 countries across the Asian region to improve early detection through pathogen genomics. The Asia PGI Training Academy was established in 2023 to provide regional participants technical laboratory (wet lab) and bioinformatics (dry lab) training in pathogen genomics. 

The Emerging Infectious Diseases (“EID”) is a Signature Research Programme of Duke-NUS. Through research, EID aims to pioneer the development and discovery of new and more effective methods for the detection, treatment, prevention and control of new and emerging pathogens. EID research work also leads to discovery and testing of new diagnostic tests, treatments and control strategies (such as vaccines). 

The position of Research Fellow / Senior Research Fellow will have the responsibility of serving as technical lead for the Asia PGI Academy. It will be full time with COP, through with an academic link to EID. As Asia PGI Academy lead, the position will oversee  capacity  building (training), partner engagement and research in the pathogen genomics and related areas. Key responsibilities include but are not limited to the following: 

• Ensure that the trainings are managed and executed in an effective and efficient manner, while adhering to all legislative, policy, procedural and scientific guidelines. This work will include coordination of some training and research activities across COP’s workstreams (health system planning, costing, legal and governance), several programmes within Duke-NUS, other Singapore partners and international experts including the World Health Organization and the International Pathogen Surveillance Network. This work will involve some travelling for training, research and conference purposes.
• Conduct research in pathogen surveillance, emergencies and novel tool development, with a focus on both laboratory and bioinformatic analyses to generate high-quality research data.
• Contribute to virtual learning platforms, including scheduled virtual webinars on pathogen genomics, and ensuring the academy’s database and learning management system content is up-to-date.
• Develop and support an on-line portal of training materials for regional partners
• Support innovations in AI-enabled training and decision support, including potential expansion of VR and XR related training
• Supervise, train and coordinate work of designated staff on trainings, and research projects.
• Contribute to research, writing and coordinating of grant application process and management of proposals.
• Perform other related duties incidental to the work described herein, including contributing to occasional admin and coordination activities.

Qualifications

• PhD in infectious diseases or other related disciplines, with a strong focus on pathogen genomics and bioinformatics.
• Extensive experience working in molecular laboratory and pathogen sequencing is required.
• Prior experience of scripting and/or programming languages and statistical packages is desirable. Experience with Linux/Unix operating systems, high-performance computing clusters, relational database design, and web development is required.
• Prior experience with pathogen genomic epidemiology and modelling is also desirable.
• Have  experience training others in pathogen sequencing and/or bioinformatics.
• Possess good technical understanding of pathogen genomics, outbreak preparedness, and surveillance.
• Have international experience, especially in the South Asian and South-East Asian region (ideally LMICs) and proven record of working with multinational teams.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects efficiently.
• Prior experience in research and grant writing, and able to undertake research assignments with minimal supervision.
• Able to travel occasionally, especially within Asia.
• Possess strong interpersonal, writing and presentation skills, team player, proven record of leading projects, able to work effectively in diverse cultural environments and interact with academia, industry, funders and regulators

We regret that only shortlisted candidates will be notified.