The Marshall Lab (https://www.marshalllab.com/) at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health is seeking to hire a postdoctoral scholar to work on mathematical and computational aspects of gene drive systems in mosquito vectors of malaria, dengue and other mosquito-borne diseases. The position is initially for one year, with the possibility of extension, and is available early to mid-2021. Salary is commensurate with experience, and full benefits are included.

The successful candidate will work on exciting collaborative projects with a consortium of mathematical modelers, molecular biologists, ecologists and epidemiologists, mostly throughout the University of California system. Molecular biology labs that we collaborate with include the Akbari Lab (https://www.akbarilab.com/), Bier Lab (http://bierlab.weebly.com/) and Gantz Lab (http://www.gantzlab.org/) at UCSD, and the James Lab at UC Irvine. Ecology labs that we collaborate with include the Vector Genetics Lab (https://vectorgeneticslab.ucdavis.edu/) at UC Davis and the Mosquito Control Lab at QIMR Berghofer in Australia. We also collaborate with TIGS-UCSD (https://tigs.ucsd.edu/) and the Debug Project (https://debug.com/) at Verily Life Sciences (https://verily.com/), and serve as modeling lead for the UC Irvine Malaria Initiative (https://ucimi.org/).

Tasks that we are seeking help with include:

• Working with molecular biologists to develop and parameterize models of genetic control systems,
• Contributing to development of our modeling framework, the Mosquito Gene Drive Explorer (MGDrivE) (https://marshalllab.github.io/MGDrivE/),
• Calibrating ecological and epidemiological models to available mosquito and vector-borne disease data,
• Developing target product profiles for mosquito genetic control systems,
• Informing monitoring and surveillance protocols to assess intervention efficacy and unintended spread, &
• Mentoring PhD, Masters and undergraduate students.

An ideal candidate will have:

• A strong background in applied mathematics, statistics and/or computer science,
• Experience with population genetics, genomics or ecological and epidemiological modeling,
• An interest in mosquitoes and/or mosquito-borne diseases, &
• An interest in mentoring students and promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in research.

If you are interested in the position, please send: i) your CV, including a list of publications and the names and email addresses of three potential referees, ii) PDFs of your two most significant publications or manuscripts to date, and iii) a cover letter describing your research interests and motivations for joining our lab to John Marshall at john.marshall@berkeley.edu. Inquiries are also welcome. Additional information about the research in our lab can be found at https://www.marshalllab.com/. The position will remain open until filled. The first review date will be January 8th 2021.

UC Berkeley has a large and vibrant public health and computational biology community spanning the School of Public Health, the Center for Computational Biology, the Innovative Genomics Institute, the Department of Integrative Biology, the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, and more. UC Berkeley offers competitive salaries, excellent benefits and is an equal opportunity employer. The City of Berkeley and the surrounding San Francisco Bay Area is known for its progressive values, vibrant social and cultural scene, and beautiful surrounding environment.