Research Fellow in Health and Life Sciences

Organisation/Company: NORTHUMBRIA UNIVERSITY

Research Field: Biological sciences, Computer science, Sociology, Ethics in health sciences

Researcher Profile: Established Researcher (R3)

Country: United Kingdom

Application Deadline: 18 Dec 2024 - 00:00 (UTC)

Type of Contract: Permanent

Job Status: Full-time

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

ABOUT THE ROLE

We are seeking to appoint a highly committed, motivated, and creative scientist to join the Northumbria University bioinformatics research group. The research will develop new data science methods that leverage the large amounts of public data from UKBiobank, dbGAP, and internal Whole Sequence data and use state-of-the-art AI/ML technologies, such as transfer learning, LASSO regression penalty, logistic regression classifier model, supervised mixture elliptical copula model combining them with Bayesian hierarchical.

The role holder will deliver an integrative 3-step Predictive framework (into a web application): you will firstly model Polygenic risk Scores (PRS) according to individuals’ heritable risk, population genetics, environment-modified, and ancestry-specific components of risk in a Bayesian hierarchical model using priors defined by LASSO regression penalty functions. Secondly, you will refine the Disease Risk Prediction according to the computed individuals’ PRS, clinical parameters, family history of the disease, genetic ancestry, lifestyle, and socio-demographics in a logistic regression classifier model. Thirdly, you will model a supervised mixture elliptical copula model to stratify individuals into optimal groups according to the predicted risk.

The researcher will evaluate the portability and transferability of the developed Predictive framework by leveraging large Genome-wide Association Studies (GWAS) data of prostate cancer, Cardiometabolic traits from UKBiobank, dbGAP, as well as joint replacement patient data. The developed predictive framework will be deployed into a web application linked to Cloud Computing resources.

This role is fixed term until November 2026.

Due to the timescales associated with the project and the need to have the appointable candidate in post by 15th December 2024, it will not be possible to consider candidates who do not have a current right to work in the UK.

ABOUT THE TEAM

The role-holder will be based at Northumbria University, City Campus, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Department of Applied Science. You will closely work with the Principal Investigator (Professor Emile R. Chimusa). Travelling and attending subject specialist meetings and national/international conferences will be required. The nature of the post is such that the role-holder is expected to work and attend at the University’s premises such hours as are reasonably necessary for the effective discharge of the duties of the role, within a normal working week of 37 hours. The department has strength in life science research, state-of-the-art multi-omics laboratories that generate data-intensive biological resources, and a strong track record of public and industrial funding.

ABOUT YOU

To be successful in the role you will have:

• PhD or soon to be PhD qualified (or equivalent experience) in relevant discipline of bioinformatics, computational biology, genomics data science, statistics genetics, or biological computer science related to genomics/GWAS
• Good understanding of polygenic risk scores (PRS) analysis, and AI/ML/Bayesian models.
• Excellent programming skills in Python and R, and large-scale genomic data analytic skills.
• Ability to develop web applications, and databases (e.g. in PostgreSQL) and handle DevCloud.
• Experience of working in multidisciplinary teams.

There must be a willingness to be flexible with working patterns in line with the demands of the project and to travel if necessary.

To apply for this vacancy please click 'Apply Now'. Your application should include a covering letter and a CV (including link to your contribution in developing tool, software or databases and 5 publications pertinent to this role).

ABOUT US

Northumbria University is a research-intensive university that unlocks potential for all. We change lives regionally, nationally, and internationally through education and research, tackling the global challenges of our age to transform society and the economy. Find out why we were named Times Higher Education’s University of the Year in 2022 and Modern University of the Year in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025.

Northumbria recorded the biggest rise of any UK university for research power in the Research Excellence Framework for the second time in 2021 and is now ranked top 25 in the UK for this measure.

One of the largest universities in the UK with over 37,000 students from more than 140 countries, filled with world-leading research, award-winning partnerships, and students at the heart of an outstanding experience. Discover more about us.

Northumbria University is a great place to work. We empower our exceptional people to achieve shared ambitions and promote a positive work-life balance. We offer a wide range of benefits including excellent pension schemes, flexible working, a generous holiday entitlement, continued commitment to your learning and development and more.

Our Northumbria Values are guiding principles that define who we are, what we do and what is important to us. Our Values are: Academic Excellence; Innovation; Inclusivity; Collaboration; and Ambition.

Our Behaviours describe how we do things and how we work together at Northumbria, reflecting our culture and our decision-making. Our Behaviours are: We listen and learn, we support one another to success, we respect everyone and their contributions, we trust in ourselves and each other and we are bold.

Our Values and Behaviours were co-created by colleagues from a range of roles across the University, who worked collaboratively to consider what it feels like to work for Northumbria, and where we need to continue to transform together to achieve what’s important to us.

We are an on-campus organisation where colleagues work regular patterns of hours and on campus, with some flexibility on the timing of their hours and the location of their work in discussion with their manager. Our campus locations include our City and Coach Lane Campuses in Newcastle upon Tyne and our London campus.

Northumbria University is committed to creating an inclusive culture where we take pride in, and value, the diversity of our staff. We encourage and welcome applications from all members of the community. The University holds bronze Athena Swan and Race Equality Charter awards in recognition of our commitment to advancing gender and race equality, we are a Disability Confident Leader and are participating in the Stonewall Diversity Champion Programme. We also hold the HR Excellence in Research award for implementing the concordat supporting the career Development of Researchers and are members of the Euraxess initiative to deliver information and support to professional researchers. The University has implemented a range of flexible working arrangements, and we are happy to explore candidate requirements as part of the recruitment process.

We are committed to keeping your data safe so it's important for you to know how we use any personal data you give us. For more detailed information, access our Privacy Policy.