Postdoctoral Transition Fellow (Senior Research Associate) (Fixed Term)

at  University of Cambridge

We are seeking to recruit a highly motivated Postdoctoral Transition Fellow in Machine Learning and Cancer to join Professor Richard Gilbertson’s group at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute as part of the Cancer Research UK Children’s Brain Tumour Centre (CRUK CBTCE).
The CRUK CBTCE launched in 2018 and is hosted by the University of Cambridge and The Institute of Cancer Research, London. Brain tumours remain the most common cause of cancer-related death in children. Limited progress in these diseases relates directly to the use of inaccurate preclinical pipelines that fail to identify drugs with activity in patients. The CRUK CBTCE convenes a critical mass of expert personnel, infrastructure and global collaborations in paediatric brain tumour biology, medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, together with expertise in preclinical and clinical trials. Our research strategy is centred around our innovative pipeline that aims to generate curative treatments for children with brain tumours. The CRUK CBTCE has received an additional 5 years of funding from CRUK and is currently expanding capacity, building on the success of our previous 6 years programme.
We are recruiting a Postdoctoral Transition Fellow to develop an independent research project using artificial intelligence and machine learning to create the world’s first entirely digital models of the hardest to treat children’s brain tumours. The models will be used to help identify new treatment targets, develop potential new drugs and test them via virtual clinical trials within computer models of cancer. The role will focus on the development of state-of-the-art machine learning approaches for the analysis of spatial sequencing data of childhood cancers including medulloblastoma and ependymoma in collaboration with the Alan Turing Institute, London and MD Anderson Cancer Center, Texas USA.
The successful candidate will have a PhD in a relevant subject area (e.g. bioinformatics, computer science, machine learning) and possess experience of developing computational models with scientific applications. This is a unique opportunity as the role holder will be part of the CRUK CBTCE Early Career Research Network and will have access to career support and expert mentoring with the aim of applying for independent funding at the end of the project. They will also have opportunities to work Professor Steven Niederer at the Alan Turing Institute and collaborate with Dr Bissan Al-Lazikani in MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Successful applicants will have an outstanding record of research and its communication. The post holder will need to be able to work independently as well as in active collaboration with multi-disciplinary partners. The award includes full salary and will be appointed at Grade 9 and will include £50K for research costs. Individuals will be supported to apply for additional funding and become competitive for Research Fellowships by the end of their fellowship.
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 2 years in the first instance.
Once an offer of employment has been accepted, the successful candidate will be required to undergo a basic disclosure (criminal records check) check and a security check.
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For more information about our research please see: https://www.crukchildrensbraintumourcentre.org/
For more details on the position please contact cbtce@cancer.cam.ac.uk
We are anticipating a multiple round interview process with the first round to be held at the end of February 2025 and in person interviews to be held in April 2025.
Please quote reference SW44714 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
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Please refer the Job description for details