Jobs
Research Associate in Imaging Analysis
Posted 13 Jun 2024
Employer
University of Cambridge
Principal Investigator
John T. O'Brien
Contact
Please ensure that you outline how you match the criteria for the post and why you are applying for this role on the online application form.
Please include details of your referees, including email address and phone number, one of which must be your most recent line manager.
Please quote reference RN41938 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
Click https://www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/46804/ to apply online.
Description
The University of Cambridge is looking to appoint a research associate on a fixed-term contract of three years with the possibility of extension to undertake projects investigating brain imaging changes (multi-modal MRI and PET) in the PREVENT-Dementia study, an ongoing multisite cohort study of people in midlife who are at increased risk of developing dementia (see https://preventdementia.co.uk/), the PREVENT ¿ Rugby Football study and similar studies in dementia, especially Lewy body dementia and Alzheimer's disease. The post is funded by research grants supporting these studies and you will be based within Professor O'Brien's research group in the Department of Psychiatry, a vibrant interdisciplinary group of basic and clinical scientists at the University of Cambridge undertaking clinical and biomarker studies seeking to understand the causes of dementia, to develop and validate biomarkers and to improve therapeutic and preventative interventions. The group is part of the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre Dementia and Neurodegeneration theme and there are close collaborations with other groups, especially in psychiatry, clinical neurosciences, psychology, and engineering as well as several external collaborations.
The post holder will be required to work as part of the dementia research team and contribute to the design, preparation, and conduct of imaging studies, undertake data analysis and preparation of manuscripts and reports, as well as some limited administrative duties and supervision of more junior researchers and students. The project would suit candidates with a Ph.D. in neuroimaging, medical imaging, biomedical engineering, computational neuroscience, or a closely related area. The appointee will work with the principal investigator (Professor John O'Brien) and other investigators in the group, including Maria-Eleni Dounavi (PREVENT Dementia Research Fellow). As well as skills in brain imaging analysis, the ability to interact and communicate effectively verbally and in writing with researchers and clinicians in different teams and sites is essential. The appointee must have or be about to be awarded a Ph.D. in a relevant area.
Desirable experience and skills include programming (e.g., Matlab, Python, R), expertise with neuroimaging software packages (e.g., SPM12, Freesurfer, FSL), multimodal data integration, and familiarity with optimised pipelines for longitudinal data preprocessing and statistical analyses (e.g., Linear Mixed Effect models). Informal enquiries are encouraged and may be directed to Professor O'Brien, john.obrien@medschl.cam.ac.uk, and/or Dr Dounavi, med57@medschl.cam.ac.uk.
If further funding is obtained there may be an option to extend this role.
Interviews will be confirmed and held on 19 July 2024.
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for three years in the first instance.
Once an offer of employment has been accepted, the successful candidate will be required to undergo a health assessment and a standard Disclosure and Barring Service check. This appointment also requires a Research Passport application.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the U.K.
Requirements
The Research Associate would be responsible for undertaking image analysis for ongoing studies, primarily the PREVENT dementia study. The main roles of the post will include:
- Collation and quality assessment (QA) of all imaging undertaken as part of the PREVENT-Dementia study, including MR imaging at five sites (Cambridge, Dublin, Edinburgh, Oxford, and London) and amyloid PET imaging (London).
- Contributing as required to protocol development, study planning and set-up and governance through the University and associated NHS Trusts.
- Analysis of cross-sectional and longitudinal multimodal MR (structure, diffusion, blood flow, BOLD fMRI, and spectroscopic imaging) as required, including analysing such data in relation to other clinical, cognitive, genetic, and biomarker data.
- Supporting analysis of other multimodal MR and PET datasets acquired as part of other ongoing studied in Lewy body dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
- Liaising with other sites in the PREVENT-Dementia study and our collaborators (e.g., EPAD and ALFA study) regarding data acquisition, QA, transfer and analysis.
- Where necessary, collating and entering study data into bespoke databases.
- Contributing to aspects of general study co-ordination and processing.
- Undertaking the necessary training (e.g. mandatory training, Good Clinical Practice, and others as required) to undertake this role •Presenting data and results both within team meetings and externally (e.g., at conferences).
- Assisting with dissemination of findings by drafting manuscripts and abstracts for publication and sharing imaging data as required with other groups.
- Maintaining governance procedures necessary for continued conduct of the study (including ethical and HRA approval and reporting).
- Acting as imaging study coordinator, arranging meetings with other partners as needed, setting.