Research Assistant (UCL)

Vacancy Reference Number

1862890

Closing Date

17 Apr 2020

Salary

£31,479 Per annum, Grade 6, Inclusive of London Allowance

Address

London

Duration

This post is available for 32 months or until 31 December 2022 in the first instance.

The primary focus of the Developmental Neurosciences section is to minimise the impact of disorders affecting the developing central and peripheral nervous system by studying the mechanisms of injury and repair, improving diagnosis and prognosis, evaluating therapeutic strategies and optimising functional outcome. The Multi-centre Epilepsy Lesion Detection (MELD) Project team is a group within Developmental Neurosciences aiming to improve the understanding and detection of lesions in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy. A

Research Assistant is sought to support a project that aims to create an openly available computational tool for automated detection of focal cortical dysplasias (FCD). FCD is a congenital abnormality of cortical development and a leading cause of surgically remediable drug-resistant epilepsy. MRI has played a major role in the evaluation of patients; yet, significant proportions of lesions remain undetected by conventional image analysis. Our group created a tool which automatically identifies these lesions (Adler, Wagstyl et al., Neuroimage Clinical, 2017). Through open science, we now lead the MELD Project with 26 participating hospitals internationally contributing to create a cohort of over 550 patients. This cohort offers an unprecedented opportunity to further our understanding of FCD and create a robust, clinically useful lesion detection algorithm. The project is supported by the Rosetrees Trust.

The post offers a unique opportunity for the appointee to join a pioneering translational machine learning neuroimaging project with a broader interest linking imaging characteristics to neurobiological and pathological processes and join an international collaboration of the world’s leading neurosurgical centres.

The successful candidate will have an Honours degree (minimum 2:1) in Neuroscience, physics, computer science or a related discipline, plus training and an excellent background in research. Experience with coding and data handling is essential. Good interpersonal skills with an ability to work co-operatively in a multidisciplinary setting, excellent time management, and the ability to liaise with experts in clinical neuroimaging. Experience of working with neuroimaging data is desirable.

Applicants should apply online. To access further details about the position and how to apply please click here. 

Further Information

Any offer of employment will be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

Contact Details

If you have any queries regarding the application process, please contact Madhur Sharma on ich.hr@ucl.ac.uk quoting job reference