*Applications will be reviewed on a rolling-basis.
FDA Office and Location: A research opportunity is available within the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in The Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), Office of Regulatory Science (ORS) located in College Park, Maryland.
The Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, known as CFSAN, provides services to consumers, domestic and foreign industry and other outside groups regarding field programs; agency administrative tasks; scientific analysis and support; and policy, planning and handling of critical issues related to food, dietary supplements, and cosmetics.
Research Project: Salmonella spp. are one of the leading causes of human gastroenteritis worldwide and pose a serious health concern. Many varieties of produce have been associated with foodborne outbreaks caused by Salmonella. The wide spectrum of food commodities that Salmonella serovars associated with highlights the adaptability of this pathogen to a variety of different food growing and processing environment. Comparing to an improving understanding of host-pathogen interactions underlying the infection process, our current knowledge on Salmonella survival and persistence in food growing and processing environment is still limited. In vitro evidence showed that certain Salmonella serovars can survive and persist under different environment conditions.
Several genomic and population-based studies also revealed that the distinction between Salmonella serovars in terms of adaptation is more complicated than just presence or absence of specific genes. With the rapid increasing of our Salmonella genome database, our knowledge of gene function has increasingly lagged, and hinders our understanding of the genetic basis of microbial phenotypes (survival and persistence in agriculture environment in this case). High-throughput functional studies are needed to identify niche-specific essential genes. Genomic characterization and identification of niche-specific essential genes would greatly improve our understanding of adaptations of Salmonella serovars to certain environment conditions. The project requires experience in gene modification including gene transfers and knockouts and knowledge with various DNA sequence analysis equipment and adjoining computational programs as well as other data analysis software. The fellow will perform RNA sequencing and Transposon-Directed Insertion Site Sequencing (TraDIS), to identify genes and other elements that may confer survival advantages to foodborne and environmental Salmonella in high stress environments. The Participant will be able learn these approaches including the subsequent analyses. Participants will have an opportunity to utilize their knowledge about genetics and molecular biology from their education to enhance their career path by having a hands-on learning experience that will enable them to acquire experience they may need for future endeavors.
Learning Objectives: Under the guidance of a mentor, the participant will gain experience in and learn about:
- The application of Next Generation Sequencing technology and Bioinformatics tools to characterize foodborne pathogens.
- Performing Transposon-Directed Insertion Site Sequencing (TraDIS) to identify genes essential to different environment conditions.
- The utilization of RNA-SEQ using Illumina, Pacbio or Nanopore technology for analysis of microbial transcriptomes to determine functional phenotype of organisms being assayed.
- Performing gene modifications in Salmonella to confirm identified gene/pathway functions.
- Participating in presenting results of research at technical conferences and to grant review panels.
- Writing publications to submit to peer reviewed journals.
Anticipated Start Date: September 30, 2024.
Appointment Length: The appointment will initially be for one year, but may be renewed upon recommendation of FDA and is contingent on the availability of funds.
Level of Participation: The appointment is full time.
Citizenship Requirements: This opportunity is available to U.S. citizens and LPR only.
This program, administered by ORAU through its contract with the U.S. Department of Energy to manage the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, was established through an interagency agreement between DOE and FDA. The participant will receive a monthly stipend commensurate with educational level and experience. Proof of health insurance is required for participation in this program. Participants do not become employees of FDA, DOE or the program administrator, and there are no employment-related benefits.
Completion of a successful background investigation by the Office of Personnel Management is required for an applicant to be on-boarded at FDA. OPM can complete a background investigation only for individuals, including non-US Citizens, who have resided in the US for a total of three of the past five years.
FDA Ethics Requirements
If an ORISE Fellow, to include their spouse and minor children, reports what is identified as a Significantly Regulated Organization (SRO) or prohibited investment fund financial interest in any amount, or a relationship with an SRO, except for spousal employment with an SRO, and the individual will not voluntarily divest the financial interest or terminate the relationship, then the individual is not placed at FDA. For additional requirements, see FDA Ethics for Nonemployee Scientists.
FDA requires ORISE participants to read and sign their FDA Education and Training Agreement within 30 days of his/her start date, setting forth the conditions and expectations for his/her educational appointment at the agency. This agreement covers such topics as the following:
- Non-employee nature of the ORISE appointment
- Prohibition on ORISE Fellows performing inherently governmental functions
- Obligation of ORISE Fellows to convey all necessary rights to the FDA regarding intellectual property conceived or first reduced to practice during their fellowship
- The fact that research materials and laboratory notebooks are the property of the FDA
- ORISE fellow’s obligation to protect and not to further disclose or use non-public information
Qualifications
The qualified candidate should have received a master’s or doctoral degree in one of the relevant fields. Degree must have been received within the past five years.
Preference is given the master’s degree graduates with three years of experience in genetics or molecular biology, or microbiology/biology doctoral degree graduates with experience in genetics or molecular biology.
Preferred skills:
- Deep expertise in the following areas: molecular biology/microbiology, genetics especially in gene modifications and life science.
- Expertise and knowledge of next generation sequencing.
- Basic bioinformatics tools and where to source them from.
- Previous experience with foodborne pathogens in a laboratory setting.
- Experience with Linux, Microsoft Office Suite, i.e. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, etc.
Eligibility Requirements
- Citizenship: LPR or U.S. Citizen
- Degree: Master’s Degree or Doctoral Degree received within the last 60 month(s).
