Postdoctoral Research Associate in Statistical Genetics

at  Kings College London

Job id: 095205. Salary: £43,205 - £45,521 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance.
Posted: 17 September 2024. Closing date: 08 October 2024.
Business unit: IoPPN. Department: Social, Genetic & Dev Psychiatry.
Contact details: Cathryn Lewis. Cathryn.lewis@kcl.ac.uk
Location: Denmark Hill Campus. Category: Research.
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About us
The NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre Trials, Genomics and Prediction theme undertakes analytical translational research to better understand and treat mental disorders. We are seeking a postdoctoral Research Associate in Statistical Genetics, working as part of the Statistical Genetics Unit (led by Professor Cathryn Lewis) to analyse clinical and genetic datasets.
You will be working at the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry (SGDP) Centre at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN). The SGDP Centre is a leading interdisciplinary research centre dedicated to advancing our understanding and treatment of mental disorders. The Department of Biostatistics and Health Informatics is housed in the same building, offering expertise in advanced analytics and statistical methods development. The IoPPN is a leading centre for mental health and neuroscience research in Europe. It produces more highly cited outputs (top 1% citations) on psychiatry and mental health than any other centre (SciVal 2023).
About the role
In this role you will take primary responsibility for a research project in mental health genetics, analysing genome-wide genetic data, polygenic scores and multi-omics data. You will lead this research, under guidance, and have the flexibility to develop the research question. Existing research areas in the team include identifying the genetic susceptibility to depression, pharmacogenetic studies of antidepressant response, genetic contributions to first episode psychosis, and the common genetic underpinnings of psychiatric and cardiometabolic diseases (www.kcl.ac.uk/research/sgu)
You will also provide research support to enable the team to function efficiently to deliver high quality research. You will help develop tools for analysis of UK Biobank data, establish data sharing protocols, and share analysis pipelines. We highly value collaborative working[JM2] , and the ability to establish and share best practice in these areas.
This role is an excellent opportunity for an early career postdoctoral researcher to develop research experience as part of a multi-disciplinary team. You will enhance your technical and professional skills, while working within a large, supportive research group.
This is a full time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered a fixed term contract for 18 months. Part-time work will be considered.
About the role

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

• PhD qualified in statistics, epidemiology, genetics or related academic areas with a strong data analysis component (or pending results)
• Excellent coding skills in standard languages (e.g. R) with a focus on reproducibility and open-source publishing of code
• Experience of analysing large genetic datasets, e.g. UK Biobank or clinical studies
• Excellent attention to detail in communication, data management and reporting results
• Strong interpersonal and written communication skills
• Experience of writing and publishing papers as first author
• Experience of collaborative research, supporting a wider team to achieve their goals

Desirable criteria

• Experience of analysis of UK Biobank on the Research Analysis Platform (RAP), or general skills in cloud computing using Jupyter notebooks and the use of Trusted Research Environments
• Familiarity with mental health research
• Active interest in supporting a diverse research environment

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the next page after you click “

• PhD qualified in statistics, epidemiology, genetics or related academic areas with a strong data analysis component (or pending results)
• Excellent coding skills in standard languages (e.g. R) with a focus on reproducibility and open-source publishing of code
• Experience of analysing large genetic datasets, e.g. UK Biobank or clinical studies
• Excellent attention to detail in communication, data management and reporting results
• Strong interpersonal and written communication skills
• Experience of writing and publishing papers as first author
• Experience of collaborative research, supporting a wider team to achieve their goal