Gerber Lab

The Gerber Lab (http://gerber.bwh.harvard.edu) is a multidisciplinary group at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School that develops novel computational models and high-throughput experimental systems to understand the role of the microbiota in human diseases, and applies these findings to develop new diagnostic tests and therapies. The director of the lab, Dr. Georg Gerber, MD, PhD, MPH, uses his unique expertise, combining advanced machine learning method development, medical microbiology, and human pathology, to leverage cutting-edge technologies to tackle scientifically and clinically important problems.

We are looking for an exceptional researcher who will play a major role in a new initiative in the lab to investigate systematically how commensal microorganisms interact with the host immune system. Although host-bacterial interactions have been extensively characterized for some pathogens, much less is known about how commensal bacteria in the microbiome interact with us. The lab will use both experimental systems (e.g., gnotobiotic animals and cell culture) and computational approaches to study various aspects of immune host system-microbiome interactions, including influence on infection/inflammation and immune repertoire development/diversity.

The successful candidate will be highly motivated and creative, taking a lead role in experimental design, execution of experiments, and interpretation of results. This position is a fantastic opportunity for an individual with strong experimental skills to learn about and apply computational techniques, enriched by extensive collaborations with top computational researchers.

Qualifications:

• PhD in Immunology, Microbiology, or related discipline.
• Excellent publication track record.
• Proficiency in cell and molecular techniques including cell culture, flow cytometry, qPCR, and ELISA assays.
• Proficiency in mouse studies including animal handling, blood collection, necropsy and cell isolation.
• Superior communication skills and ability to work on multidisciplinary teams.
• Experience in cellular immunology, including immune cell proliferation is highly desirable.
• Experience in microbiology, including culture of anaerobic bacteria is highly desirable.
• Experience with next-generation sequencing library preparation and data analysis is highly desirable.

Environment:  the Gerber Lab is located in the Division of Computational Pathology (http://comp-path.bwh.harvard.edu), which Dr. Gerber heads, at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) at Harvard Medical School (HMS), and the Massachusetts Host-Microbiome Center (MHMC) (http://metagenomics.partners.org), which Dr. Gerber co-directs. BWH, an HMS affiliated teaching hospital is adjacent to the HMS main quad and is the second largest non-university recipient of NIH research funding. The Division is situated within the BWH Department of Pathology, which houses over 40+ established investigators, 50+ postdoctoral research fellows, and 100+ research support staff. The MHMC has extensive facilities to support microbiome research, including the largest not-for-profit gnotobiotic mouse facility in New England, a microbiology unit with advanced anerobic culturing systems, and a molecular unit with next generation sequencers and robotic liquid handlers. BWH is part of the greater Longwood Medical Area in Boston, a rich, stimulating environment conducive to intellectual development and research collaborations, which includes HMS, Harvard School of Public Health and Boston Children’s Hospital.

To apply: email a single PDF including cover letter, CV, brief research statement and a list of at least three references to Dr. Georg Gerber (ggerber@bwh.harvard.edu). In your CV, indicate whether you are a U.S. citizen/permanent resident or visa holder (and list visa type). Incomplete applications will be considered non-responsive and unfortunately cannot be considered.

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions or any other characteristic protected by law.

I am always excited to work with talented graduate students with interests relevant to my lab, which focuses on developing novel machine learning/computational biology/wet lab approaches to further understanding of the microbiome–the trillions of microbes living on and within us. This fascinating, complex and dynamic ecosystem is crucial for human health, and when disrupted may contribute to a variety of diseases including infections, arthritis, allergies, cancer, heart and bowel disorders.

In general, I can only be a primary advisor (and provide financial support) for students enrolled at Harvard or MIT. However, I am open to co-advising students at other institutions.

If you’re interested, email me at ggerber#bwh.harvard.edu. Please include your CV and a brief description of your research interests.

Students should have a high level of interest in:

• Developing and applying new technologies to biomedical problems.
• Advancing knowledge of the microbiome and its role in human health and disease.
• Having your work make an impact on healthcare outcomes.
• Working on an interdisciplinary team and collaborating with computational, wet lab and clinical scientists.

About the lab: the Gerber Lab develops novel statistical machine learning models and high-throughput experimental systems to understand the role of the microbiota in human diseases, and applies these findings to develop new diagnostic tests and therapies. A particular focus of the Gerber Lab is understanding dynamic behaviors of host-microbial ecosystems. Our work in this area includes Bayesian statistical machine learning methods for discovering temporal patterns in microbiome data, inferring dynamical systems models from microbiome time-series data, or predicting host status from microbiome time-series data with human interpretable rules. We have applied these methods to a number of clinically relevant questions including understanding dynamic effects of antibiotics, infections and dietary changes on the microbiome, and designing bacteriotherapies for C. difficile infection and food allergy. We also apply our methods to synthetic biology problems, to engineer consortia of bacteria for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes.

Environment:  the Gerber Lab is located in the Division of Computational Pathology, which Dr. Gerber heads, at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) at Harvard Medical School (HMS), and the Massachusetts Host-Microbiome Center, which Dr. Gerber co-directs. BWH, an HMS affiliated teaching hospital is adjacent to the HMS main quad and is the second largest non-university recipient of NIH research funding. The broad mandate of the BWH Division of Computational Pathology is to develop and apply advanced computational methods for furthering the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of human diseases. The Division is situated within the BWH Department of Pathology, which houses over 40+ established investigators, 50+ postdoctoral research fellows, and 100+ research support staff. In addition, BWH is part of the greater Longwood Medical Area in Boston, a rich, stimulating environment conducive to intellectual development and research collaborations, which includes HMS, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston Children’s Hospital and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.