Careers
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Associate Director for Responsive Agriculture
Job Description
We are looking for a visionary, internationally renowned leader and scholar in agricultural sciences to serve as Associate Director for Responsive Agriculture for the IHA. This newly formed interdisciplinary institute will lead the nation in achieving the new expectations of the Agriculture-Food-Health system to promote human health, environmental health and economic health through research.
Business Administrator I
Job Description
The Business Administrator I, under general supervision, performs the following: reviewing and approving business documents, and developing, monitoring, and reporting accounts, budgets, and other quantitative data. The Administrator performs work planning and coordinating services that include the exercise of discretion and independent judgement with respect to matters of significance.
Nutrition Research Associate
Job Description
The Research Associate will assist the Program Director in supporting research conducted as part of Precision Nutrition.
Nutrition Research Assistant
Job Description
The Research Assistant will assist the Program Director in supporting research conducted as part of Precision Nutrition.
Research Specialist V
Job Description
The Research Specialist V will serve as a program coordinator and support the implementation of health research, with the ultimate goal of using advances in food and agriculture to improve health outcomes across all population groups in Texas. Specific focal areas will include maternal and child health as well as community based interventions. As such, strong preference is needed for bilingual communication ability.
Research Scientist: Biostatistician
Job Description
The Research Scientist will provide a wide range of advanced statistical expertise, guidance, and support to researchers, scientists, faculty, program staff, and research teams engaged in research activities associated with the IHA. Primary responsibilities include an active role in research, including project/program conceptualization, development, implementation, and evaluation, providing management and oversight of the use of appropriate statistical analysis methods and techniques in the research, design, and implementation of data analytics, and overseeing the analysis reports and results sections of academic manuscripts.
Research Data Scientist
Job Description
The Research Data Scientist, under general direction, will support the mission of IHA and its cross-cutting research initiatives and programs by providing technical expertise and support to the collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of complex data sets.
Research Specialist III
Job Description
The Research Specialist III will provide administrative support to high-level administrators for research projects and initiatives, providing assistance with a broad range of data collection prepared for internal and external distribution.
Post-Doctoral Positions
Post-Doctoral Research Associate
Job Location: College Station, TX
Job Description
A Postdoctoral Researcher position is available with the Stover Research Group at Texas A&M AgriLife Research at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. Candidates should have experience in one or more of the following areas: mouse developmental biology, genetics, genomics, and molecular biology research and contribute to the Stover research group through conducting research, mentoring and publishing research findings. This will involve conducting metabolic and dietetic studies using a mouse strain that produces neural tube defects based upon folate status. The Stover Research Group studies folate-mediated one-carbon metabolism in cell culture and animal models, nuclear metabolism, communication among metabolites and the genome, the development of mouse models of neural tube defects, cancer and neuropathy.
Post-Doctoral Research Fellow (IHA-ARS) – 7
Job Location: El Paso, TX
Job Description
Position 7: Precision nutrition research in adolescent females (Location: Texas A&M University, El Paso)
Advisor: This position will work with Dr. Elizabeth Racine, Texas A&M AgriLife Research Center, El Paso, Texas.
Overview: The 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) indicates that the population group with the greatest differences between recommended food group amounts and current intakes is adolescent females ages 14-18y. This gap between recommendations and intake is especially concerning because adolescence is such a crucial period of growth and development. In addition, adolescents have more autonomy over food choices than younger children but are still dependent on their parents or guardians for the types of foods available in the home and the preparation of those foods. Adolescent females are, therefore, an ideal population subgroup to benefit from precision nutrition research. Using a precision nutrition approach, this project proposes to develop a more detailed understanding of the current nutritional status of adolescent females and a broader and deeper understanding of the factors affecting the dietary choices of adolescent females and their parents. First, national survey data from NHANES and WWEIA 2015-2018 will be used to develop an updated assessment of the current nutritional status of American adolescents ages 9-18y to understand nutrient intakes, food intakes, and health markers of this group as well as how dietary intakes change during adolescence (from ages 9-13y to 14-18y). Using the findings of NHANES and WWEIA information as context, this project will then evaluate the impact of different influences on the dietary choices of adolescent females and their parents or guardians using survey methodology. A large national survey study of adolescent females 14-18y and the parent or guardian most responsible for the food environment within the home will be conducted to inform responsive agriculture decisions by providing a better understanding of the personal, parental, environmental, and macrosystem factors that affect their nutrition.
Qualifications: PhD in a relevant discipline (e.g., nutrition or a related discipline). Essential requirements include proficiency in experimental design, data analysis, and scientific writing. Note: This position is located in El Paso. If desired, the candidate may be allowed to work remotely from another location within the United States.
Cluster Hire: Postdoctoral Research Fellows
Texas A&M AgriLife Research is hiring 16 Postdoctoral Research Fellows through a cluster-hire to work on various research projects with a focus on advancing health through agriculture. The postdoctoral fellows will be advised by top scientists at Texas A&M University, Prairie View A&M University and the USDA-ARS.
1. Nutrients and food components in national dietary surveillance – What We Eat in America
Location: USDA-ARS Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland
Advisor: Alanna Moshfegh, Ph.D., USDA-ARS Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
Overview: What We Eat in America, WWEIA, assesses and reports the dietary intake of the U.S. population. The data are used to inform federal food and nutrition policy and by researchers to investigate associations between diet and health. Intake of energy and 64 nutrients is reported in WWEIA as they are the traditional nutrients available in USDA’s National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference. Launch of USDA’s FoodData Central in 2019 has changed the source for nutrient values in WWEIA. It is unclear if data for all nutrients reported in WWEIA are needed for nutrition monitoring and research and what other nutrients might be needed. This project seeks to identify nutrients/food components scientifically and systematically to be reported by national dietary intake assessment to develop an evidence-based rationale/criteria for inclusion or exclusion.
Qualifications: Ph.D. in a relevant discipline (e.g., nutrition, public health or a related discipline). Essential requirements include proficiency in experimental design and data analysis.
Note: Candidates interested in applying for this position must be authorized to work in the U.S. Sponsorship is not available.
2. Precision nutrition research in adolescent females
Location: Texas A&M University, Bryan-College Station/El Paso
Advisor: Elizabeth Racine, Ph.D., Department of Nutrition, Texas A&M University, Bryan-College Station, Texas.
Overview: The 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, DGA, indicates that the population group with the greatest differences between recommended food group amounts and current intakes is adolescent females ages 14-18. This gap between recommendations and intake is especially concerning because adolescence is such a crucial period of growth and development. In addition, adolescents have more autonomy over food choices than younger children but are still dependent on their parents or guardians for the types of foods available in the home and the preparation of those foods. Adolescent females are, therefore, an ideal population subgroup to benefit from precision nutrition research. Using a precision nutrition approach, this project proposes to develop a more detailed understanding of the current nutritional status of adolescent females and a broader and deeper understanding of the factors affecting the dietary choices of adolescent females and their parents. First, national survey data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, NHANES, and WWEIA 2015-2018 will be used to develop an updated assessment of the current nutritional status of American adolescents ages 9-18 to understand nutrient intakes, food intakes, and health markers of this group as well as how dietary intakes change during adolescence (from ages 9-13 to 14-18). Using the findings of NHANES and WWEIA information as context, this project will then evaluate the impact of different influences on the dietary choices of adolescent females and their parents or guardians using survey methodology. A large national survey study of adolescent females 14-18 and the parent or guardian most responsible for the food environment within the home will be conducted to inform responsive agriculture decisions by providing a better understanding of the personal, parental, environmental, and macrosystem factors that affect their nutrition.
Qualifications: Ph.D. in a relevant discipline (e.g., nutrition or a related discipline). Essential requirements include proficiency in experimental design, data analysis, and scientific writing.
3. Human milk oligosaccharides in gut health
Location: USDA-ARS Laboratory, Little Rock, Arkansas
Advisor: Laxmi Yeruva, Ph.D., USDA-ARS Laboratory, Little Rock, Arkansas.
Overview: Epidemiologic studies support numerous benefits of breastfeeding compared to formula feeding, particularly related to gut and immune outcomes. Gastrointestinal and immune development are influenced by dietary intake and the gut microbiome. Human milk oligosaccharides, HMOs, a group of complex carbohydrates that represent the third most abundant component of human milk, can both directly and indirectly (via the microbiome) affect intestinal epithelial and immune cells. The goal of this research is to investigate the molecular mechanisms whereby HMOs regulate intestinal epithelial and mucosal immune cells using germ-free and gnotobiotic mice in combination with single-cell sequencing.
Qualifications: Ph.D. in a relevant discipline (e.g., biochemistry, nutrition, microbiology, bioinformatics or a related discipline). Essential requirements include proficiency in experimental design and data analysis.
4. Agricultural Economics/systems
Location: Texas A&M University, Bryan-College Station
Advisor: Joseph Outlaw, Ph.D., Department of Agricultural Economics, Texas A&M University, Bryan-College Station, Texas.
Qualifications: Ph.D. in a relevant discipline (e.g., agricultural economics or a related discipline). Essential requirements include proficiency in experimental design and data analysis.