Easter Seals Jobs

The research assistant will work in Dr. Stephanie Wankowicz’s lab within the Center for AI for Protein Dynamics and the Molecular Physiology and Biophysics department at Vanderbilt University. This position requires a solid coding background in Python and ideally, experience with structural biology software, PyTorch, or high-performance computing (HPC).

The research assistant will support ongoing software development (qFit) using machine learning and structural bioinformatics research on protein structure and dynamics. Additional responsibilities include maintaining GitHub repositories and responding to bug reports.

The Wankowicz lab aims to elucidate the role of entropy in substrate specificity and catalysis, striving to provide a comprehensive thermodynamic understanding of enzyme function. The lab develops innovative computational and machine learning-based structural modeling algorithms to create conformational ensemble models. This position will be involved in the computational side of the lab, focusing on improving modeling methods and testing these methods in a high-throughput manner.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Fix bugs and other features in qFit

• Manage testing scripts/analysis for qFit updates

• Perform high throughput structural bioinformatic analyses

• Opportunity to learn high performance computing

• Opportunity to learn structural biology machine learning techniques

• Opportunity to perform independent research

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field (biology, chemistry, physics, computer science, or related field) is necessary. Master’s degree is preferred.

• Experience in Python coding is strongly preferred

• Experience in HPC or Pytorch is preferred

Commitment to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion At Vanderbilt University, we are intentional about and assume accountability for fostering advancement and respect for equity, diversity, and inclusion for all students, faculty, and staff. Our commitment to diversity makes us who we are. We have created a community that celebrates differences and lets individuality thrive. As part of this commitment, we actively value diversity in our workplace and learning environments as we seek to take advantage of the rich backgrounds and abilities of everyone. The diverse voices of Vanderbilt represent an invaluable resource for the University in its efforts to fulfill its mission and strive to be an example of excellence in higher education. Vanderbilt University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer. Women, minorities, people with disabilities, and protected veterans are encouraged to apply.