Simbonis Fellowship in Bioinformatics at the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library
Yale University, New Haven, CT
Fixed Duration Position: 18 months from date of hire; non-renewable
Yale University offers an exciting opportunity for achievement and growth in New Haven, Connecticut. Conveniently located between Boston and New York, New Haven is the creative capital of Connecticut with cultural resources that include major art museums, theaters and music. New Haven is also a biotech and research hub and the location of one of the largest hospitals in the United States.
The Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library
The Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library serves the Yale Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Public Health, and the Yale-New Haven Hospital as well as Yale College and the Yale Graduate School. The Cushing/Whitney Medical Library is a dynamic and busy place; library staff work together as a team to provide responsive and effective information support to the Medical Center's missions of research, education, and patient care. Medical librarians provide individualized support through the library’s active personal librarian program. Electronic resources have grown to 22,717 e-journals, 48,911 e-books and 99 electronic databases. In addition, digitized collections, clinical synthesis tools, and evidence-based practice resources bring information to our community at the library, on campus and remotely. For additional information, see: https://library.medicine.yale.edu/
Position Description
The Simbonis Fellowship in Bioinformatics offers a recent Ph.D. or MS scientist a chance to explore a career in medical librarianship, by serving as an informationist in the established Bioinformatics Support Program at the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library. This fellowship is made possible through the generosity of the estate of Dr. Stanley Simbonis ’53, ‘57MD. Upon completion of this fellowship, the informationist would be poised to continue a career in the cutting-edge and expanding field of library bioinformatics support.
The Cushing/Whitney Medical Library serves an array of academic and clinical programs. The Simbonis Fellow will have the opportunity to interact with faculty, staff, researchers, and students in the Schools of Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health as well as graduate students and post-docs. The library also supports Yale New Haven Hospital, and the Fellow will interact with clinicians, staff and researchers from the hospital. The Fellow will also have occasion to collaborate with colleagues from throughout the Yale University Library system.
The Cushing/Whitney Medical Library Bioinformatics Support Program is considered among the most comprehensive medical library bioinformatics programs. Geared towards biomedical researchers with little or no command-line skills, it supports Yale biomedical researchers by providing access to a suite of commercial and open source bioinformatics software for the analysis, annotation, and visualization of -omics and other types of data throughout the research data lifecycle. In addition, the program provides training and consultation on how to use these tools to hundreds of biomedical researchers every year. An integral part of the program is to assess the usage of the different resources and services provided by the program.
Responsibilities
The Simbonis Fellowship is an 18-month appointment and focuses on growing services and innovating within the Biomedical Support Program at the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library while exploring new career opportunities.
Under the mentorship of the Biomedical Research Support Librarian, the Simbonis Fellow will gain broad experience in the growing field of bioinformatics support in libraries. Other activities will vary based on current library projects and the Fellow's interest and experience.
During their tenure at Yale, the Simbonis Fellow is expected to pursue mutually agreed-upon projects resulting in a publishable paper, a new library service (such as a webpage or research guide), or other relevant deliverables. The Simbonis Fellow will be introduced to a broad spectrum of professional activities and may have the opportunity to participate in library planning committees and task forces and engage in campus, regional, and national professional organizations and other collaborative activities. Fellows are expected to be professionally active and represent the library and the University in the academic, scholarly, and professional community.
Specifically:
Observes, learns and then provides bioinformatics instruction in the form of training sessions on the use of databases and bioinformatics software and methods. These will be accomplished either by teaching or coordinating presentations from outside vendors and guest speakers for the benefit of the Yale biomedical community.
Teaches Yale biomedical researchers and staff to use a range of free and commercial (licensed by the library) bioinformatics databases and software for retrieving, downloading, analyzing, and visualizing a wide variety of molecular data including (but not limited to) genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics.
Guides biomedical researchers through bioinformatics methods and analyses and prepares reports for group presentation or publication.
Participates in one-on-one and group consultations (in person or online) on a wide variety of bioinformatics topics under the mentorship of colleagues.
Provides reference and research services in response to requests for information related to bioinformatics and other biomedical subjects.
May evaluate, recommend, and support electronic resources, such as software applications, pertinent to the bioinformatics support program.
Provides support in assessing the efficacy/relevance of the program by collecting, analyzing, and reporting statistics which document the service levels and trends in service provision.
Helps the library gain insights into new potential uses and users of the bioinformatics resources, and information-seeking behaviors of scientists.
Qualifications
Master’s degree or Ph.D. in a biomedical or life sciences-related field.
Knowledge of the basic principles, theories, practices, techniques, and terminology of a biomedical-related discipline and an understanding of the standard methods, procedures, and techniques of research and analysis in that field.
Experience with genomics research and an understanding of fundamental biological concepts.
Excellent analytical, customer service, and interpersonal skills.
Effective oral and written communication skills.
Ability to work both independently and collegially in a demanding and rapidly changing environment.
Preferred:
Working experience in the analysis and interpretation of high-throughput biological data (e.g. sequencing, array-based technologies)
Ability to perform independent analyses and report findings to biomedical researchers
Publication(s) in relevant peer-reviewed journals
Salary and Benefits
The Simbonis Fellow will serve for eighteen months and will receive an award of $90,000 prorated over 18 months. Health insurance will be provided. Fellows can draw upon a wide range of expertise across Yale and the Yale University Library for support and will be offered mentorship and guidance.
Application Process
The Simbonis Fellowship is a competitive position. Applicants should submit a current resume or CV, a cover letter/statement of interest, and names and contact information for three professional references to Katie Hart via e-mail at katherine.hart@yale.edu. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling cycle until the position is filled. There is no application form. Please be sure to include “Simbonis Fellowship” in the e-mail subject line.
Background Check Requirements
All external candidates for employment will be subject to pre-employment background screening for this position, which may include motor vehicle and credit checks based on the position description and job requirements. Internal candidates may be subject to a motor vehicle or credit check for this position based on the position description and job requirements. All offers are contingent on successful completion of the required background check.
Yale University is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer. Yale values diversity in its faculty, staff, and students and strongly encourages applications from women and members of underrepresented minority groups.
