Research Assistant or Associate in Computational Genomics

Applications are invited for a Research Assistant/ Associate to join the lab of Dr Cynthia Sandor. Today, over 1 million people in the UK are living with dementia and related neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease.

The impact of these incurable and progressive conditions on individuals and their families is devastating. The cost to the economy and public services is large and growing as the UK population ages.

We are a globally leading multidisciplinary research institute of over 900 staff investigating the spectrum of neurodegenerative disorders causing dementia, driving a step change in our understanding of neurodegeneration, and accelerating the discovery, development and delivery of interventions that will help diagnose, treat, and ultimately prevent dementia. REF 2021, Imperial ranks first in the UK for research outputs, first in the UK for research environment, and first for research impact among Russell Group universities, as well as first for the Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience Unit of Assessment (UoA4), reflecting excellence in the ongoing research activities of our department.

You will be a motivated and organised researcher, excited by the science we do. You will lead one or more projects characterizing the relationship between brain and blood cell types to interpret Parkinson’s disease susceptibility and its various clinical presentations.

You will join the research group of Dr. Cynthia Sandor, and collaborate closely with Dr. Nathan Skene’s group, which focuses on identifying the cell types and intracellular processes affected by the genetic loci underlying neurodegenerative diseases.

We collaborate with Dr. Alexi Nott, who focuses on the role of the epigenome in neurodegenerative disorders, Professor Michael Johnson, who leads a large consortium developing a single-cell eQTL brain atlas, Professor Caleb Webber, Director of Informatics at the UK DRI, and Professor Payam Barnaghi (UK DRI at Care & Technology), who is advancing AI/ML in the context of neurodegenerative disorders.

You will play a key role in analysing large-scale ‘omics datasets, with a primary focus on the analysis of cellular architecture to address major research questions related to Parkinson’s disease. This includes access to both published and unpublished human/mouse single-cell and multi-disease datasets

We are looking for an experienced Research Assistant or Associate in Computational Genomics, eager to explore the complexities of Parkinson’s disease.

The ideal candidate should hold a relevant MSc in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Mathematics, or a closely related discipline, or possess equivalent research, industrial, or commercial experience. Knowledge of immunology is highly desirable. (For the Research Associate level you will need to have a PhD, if you have not yet officially been awarded it but are expected to you will be appointed at Research Assistant level and move up to Associate level once it has been

• You should have practical experience within a research environment and/or publication in relevant and refereed journals.

• You should have experience with high-performance computing environments.

• You should be proficient with a broad range of bioinformatics tools and databases.

• You should have a background knowledge of neuroscience, biological sciences, or a closely related discipline.

• You should have a background knowledge of the immune system.

• You will work with next-generation sequencing data from patient-derived brain tissue and blood to identify cells and signalling pathways dysregulated in Parkinson’s disease. • The applicant will collaborate with various research groups within the Dementia Research Institute and Imperial's Department of Brain Sciences. Imperial and the UK DRI encourage continued professional development and you will be supported to develop skills in emerging computational approaches

• The opportunity to continue your career at a world-leading institution and be part of our mission to continue science for humanity.

• Grow your career: Gain access to Imperial’s sector-leading dedicated career support for researchers as well as opportunities for promotion and progression • Sector-leading salary and remuneration package (including 39 days off a year and generous pension schemes).