Odyssey is looking for a Microbiologist (Ph.D.) to support the National Hansen’s Disease Program (NHDP) Laboratory Research Branch to enhance the understanding of Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae). 

*** Contingent Upon Contract Award ***

Duties include, but not limited to:

• Design and develop molecular assays to determine viability of leprosy complex bacteria from infected animal tissues. Applications shall include evaluation of fixation protocols (e.g., Ethanol,formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded), purification of nucleic acids, quantitation of bacterial numbers, and expression of relevant genes.
• Evaluate molecular viability assays on clinical biopsy samples from leprosy patients across the leprosy spectrum, before and after treatment with leprosy multidrug therapy. Applications shall include refinement of established protocols to obtain optimum performance with human tissue samples.
• Design and perform experiments evaluating new anti-leprosy drugs and drug regimens utilizing the mouse footpad model of leprosy complex bacterial infection.
• Formulate complex hypotheses regarding the relationship of the host immune response with leprosy complex bacteria viability and the expression of bacterial genes in in-vitro culture and from infected tissues.
• Design new primer/probe sets and assess their suitability for use as improved expression markers for detecting viable leprosy complex bacteria in clinical and experimental samples.
• Document all experimental procedures. Compile and analyze all experimental data. Synthesize information suitable for critical review and publication in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
• Documentation shall be submitted in the following formats:
  • Word document: Reports and manuscripts for publication.
  • Excel: Spreadsheets and Tables of experimental data.
  • PowerPoint: Presentations for review of progress.
  • Statistical Analysis Software (SAS): statistical analysis of data.
  • Handwritten: Daily progress entries into laboratory notebook.

Minimum Required Qualifications:

Citizenship: Must be a US citizen

Clearance: None

Education: Ph.D 

Years’ experience: 4 years min 

Additional Information:

Location: Baton Rouge, LA 

Travel: None

Remote, Onsite, or Hybrid: Onsite 

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Odyssey Systems Consulting Group, is an innovative small business committed to providing world-class technical, management, and training support services to government and public sector clients. We focus on people, processes, and performance to deliver superior results. Since our inception in 1997, our commitment to mission success and customer satisfaction has been recognized with exponential growth and exceptional past performance ratings. We accept challenging assignments and drive projects from the planning stages, through implementation, and into operations and support.

Please note: Final compensation for this position will be determined by various factors such as the Federal Government contract labor categories and contract wage rates, relevant work experience, specific skills and competencies, geographic location, education, and certifications.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities