How to do Better Science – The New SEAL Program for Professional Scientists
A Shift Is Happening. Too Many Papers are Being Published. The Easy Problems have been Solved. Science is Now all about Impact.
Small Elite Interdisciplinary Teams Will Lead in this New World.
With this change in mind, the Gregg lab at the University of Utah is transitioning to a new model of science and discovery that caters to professional scientists by launching the SEAL (Science Excelerator and Leadership) Program. We are investigating new ways to take on higher impact scientific problems and make major advances in a shorter period of time. To help with this, the lab will transition to a new name – the Precision Brain Genetics Lab. This name change reflects the focus of the science and important roles of senior investigators in the lab and their capability to obtain independent grants if they wish.
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Right now, we are seeking to recruit a new SEAL program scientist to the lab at the level of a career track assistant professor, staff scientist or postdoctoral fellow.
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A shift is happening. This program addresses the need to train and deeply support highly creative and elite professional scientists WHO WANT TO FOCUS ON SCIENCE AND DISCOVERY AND GET CREDIT FOR THEIR WORK IN A SECURE ENVIRONMENT, rather than write grants and perform administrative duties. Our SEAL program aims to create an interdisciplinary environment of collaboration that makes major breakthroughs and real world impacts. This new program helps address the urgency that patients feel for breakthroughs that radically improve quality of their lives.
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Our initiative is partly inspired by the successes of professional scientists at the BROAD institute and the growing need for these important positions in modern, collaborative and interdisciplinary science (see Nature article).
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The successful SEAL program hire will get access to deep support from leading experts in genomics, epigenomics, CRISPR-Cas9 technologies, machine learning, imaging and behavioral analysis. We will help them build an independent program that leads a new field. This person will have access to powerful internal and unpublished software, datasets, high and medium throughput screening technologies and data analysis capabilities to help them create entirely novel and transformative scientific advances.
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A SEAL program scientist receives:
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a salary that is above NIH guidelines
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a mentorship committee comprised of multiple PIs and leaders in the field
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deep technical and training support from Utah leaders in bioinformatics, genome engineering, precision medicine, metabolomics, metabolic profiling, high throughput screening, behavioral analysis, neuroscience, programming and machine-learning
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a unique career experience with an emphasis on translation and real world impact
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access to unique and unpublished data, software and technologies
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a spectacular life in Utah – see it all here (https://www.visitsaltlake.com/ or https://utah.com/)
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help designing a leading independent program
- collaboration with Dr. Jay Gertz, a leader in epigenome editing and gene regulation (website)
- a Storyline Health Innovator Grant (learn more here: https://storylinehealth.com/grants)
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The SEAL program is looking globally for the best people – people of all genders, ethnic backgrounds and countries should consider this unique opportunity.
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Your mission is to learn how to engineer biomedical superpowers for disease prevention and reversal by precisely modulating the activity of networks of genes to predictably control brain functions, health and behavior.
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Please APPLY by following these steps:
1) Send your CV and application to chris.gregg [at] neuro.utah.edu [type “SEAL program application” in the email subject line]
2) Deadline to apply is January 31st, 2021 – apply early!
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Examples of previous SEAL program successes:
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An atlas of regulatory elements linked to biomedical superpowers (link)
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A machine learning platform for understanding complex behavior (link)
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Novel insights into the mechanistic basis of phenotypic plasticity and adaptability (link)
- Parental influences on brain gene expression (TEDx talk)
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Storyline Health AI – a transformative new AI platform enabling global Precision Behavioral Medicine (www.storylinehealth.com)
The SEAL program candidate interview questions:
- Please introduce yourself! We want to get to know you :))
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What lab are you working in now? What career stage are you at? What institution are you working at?
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Which individuals in science inspire you? What do you want to achieve in your career?
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Why are you interested in this position?
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Why are you the right person for the SEAL scientist position in the Precision Brain Genetics Lab?
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Please describe your experiences and skill set.
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Can you get hard wet lab experiments to work? Do you prefer hard computational problems? Give examples.
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Why is understanding gene regulation and brain health, function and behavior important & interesting to you?
- What do you like about team work?
- What do you like about working independently?
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What is unique about the research in the Gregg lab (Precision Brain Genetics Lab) that interests you?
- What do think about the labs we collaborate with (Dr. Jay Gertz’s lab)? Are you interested in leading collaborative epigenome editing projects that involve the Precision Brain Genetics Lab and Gertz lab?
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What have other people told you you are good at?
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What types of scientific experiments and methods do you like to do? What is your superpower compared to most other people?
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What do you hope this position is like? What things would make this position especially exciting to you?
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Please share something interesting about yourself?
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Any questions? What about the position, research or lab would you like to know more about?