Summary

Seeking a full-time Research Associate to join Dr. Wood's Research Group at the Children's Nutrition Research Center (CNRC), Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Wood leads a multidisciplinary research program focused on the analysis of large-scale ‘omics data from longitudinal observational studies to examine pathways linking lifestyle behaviors, such as nutrition, to health. While much of the group’s work centers on chronic diseases of aging (e.g., type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease), the lab also maintains a growing pediatric research portfolio applying similar analytic paradigms to early-life data. The Research Associate will function as a scientific contributor within the research group, working with Dr. Wood (PI) to advance ongoing grant-funded studies. The primary responsibility of this role will be to develop manuscripts for submission to peer-reviewed journals (including serving as first author on select publications). This will require critically evaluating analytic results in the context of current scientific literature and identifying additional analyses that would strengthen scientific inference.

Cover letters are strongly encouraged. 

For more information about the lab, please visit https://www.bcm.edu/research/faculty-labs/alexis-lekki-wood-lab

Job Duties

• Contribute to multiple concurrently funded projects within a collaborative research group and will play a role in advancing the group’s publication output.
• Conduct comprehensive and critical reviews of the scientific literature using major biomedical and social science databases (e.g., PubMed/Medline, PsycINFO), synthesizing evidence to inform analytic plans and manuscript development.
• Synthesize and integrate findings across studies, identifying gaps in current knowledge and opportunities to advance scientific understanding.
• Evaluate and interpret results from data analyses conducted within the research group, assessing their consistency with underlying hypotheses, study design, and limitations of observational data.
• Lead the drafting of manuscripts for submission to peer-reviewed journals, including development of introduction, methods, results, and discussion sections, in close collaboration under the PI.
• May supervise, coordinate, and provide scientific guidance to less experienced research staff or trainees, as appropriate.
• Contribute substantively to the preparation of grant applications, progress reports, and related research documents, under the direction of the PI.
• Participate in meetings with internal and external collaborators, including multi-site and interdisciplinary research teams.
• Contribute to professional dissemination of research findings through posters, slide presentations, and written reports.
• Perform other job-related duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Master's degree in Basic Science or a related field.  Experience in lieu of degree will not be accepted.
• Three years of relevant experience typically as a Research Assistant, Research Technician or Postdoctoral Fellow/Associate.

Preferred Qualifications

• Doctoral degree in Epidemiology, Nutrition, or a closely related field
• Strong writing experience
• Demonstrated interest in, and working knowledge of, the role of nutrition and lifestyle factors in human health and disease
• A record of peer-reviewed publications that reflects a lead role in manuscript writing
• Familiarity with grant applications, and the NIH grant funding cycle
• Prior experience working within a collaborative academic environment
• Prior experience interpreting and disseminating the results from ‘omics studies