Associate Professor in Lifestyle Medicine

This exciting senior role offers the opportunity for an outstanding academic to join the University of Leicester and the thriving team of lifestyle researchers within Leicester Lifestyle Health and Research Group (LLHRG) and Diabetes Research Centre.

The post will support our world leading translational teaching and research in Sports Sciences and Clinical Medicine, areas where the University of Leicester is ranked second overall in the country by the Research Excellent Framework 2021 (out of 31 and 61 institutions respectively; Research Excellence Framework 2021 results | University of Leicester).

In this key role, the post holder will lead on the development of, and teaching on, a new distance learning MSc in Lifestyle Medicine and new lifestyle modules for existing courses such as the MSc in Diabetes (50%). Alongside this, they will conduct world leading research (40%) in lifestyle based experimental medicine, real world epidemiology or behaviour change as part of the LLHRG at the Diabetes Research Centre. The remaining 10% of the role will relate to the impact and citizenship activities detailed in the main duties section.

Research Environment

LLHRG conduct research investigating how physical activity, sedentary behaviour, sleep, and nutrition can be used to prevent and manage long-term conditions, such as obesity and diabetes, in multi-ethnic populations. LLHRG are one of the most successful research groups in the country conducting research in this area, ranking second overall and first for output quality in REF2021 for Unit of Assessment 24 (Sports Science). This success was the foundation of a major new £14 million investment from Research England specifically to enable LLHRG to grow their research and impact excellence. This includes recruiting 20 new staff members across academic, teaching, research, community engagement and administrative positions, in addition to 12 new PhD students.

The LLHRG are part of the Diabetes Research Centre (DRC) which sits within the College of Life Sciences and is hosted at the Leicester General Hospital within the wider Leicester Diabetes Centre. The Leicester Diabetes Centre is a unique partnership between University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust and the University of Leicester, providing one of the largest facilities in Europe for conducting first class clinical research and teaching in the prevention and management of long-term conditions. This physical space has facilitated the co-location our growing number of research, academic, teaching, technical, administrative and clinical staff, providing the opportunity to work together as one team to produce high quality, high impact research and teaching.

The DRC has attracted a range of prestigious National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) funded infrastructure and hosts the NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre and the NIHR ARC East Midlands.

About you

To be successful in the role of Associate Professor you will hold a PhD in a relevant subject area and have a track record of teaching at postgraduate level, evidenced by a sustained record of excellent student outcomes and progression, and of research outputs that are internationally recognised and world-leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour. You will be able to demonstrate experience and achievement within lifestyle research, reflected by a high reputation in the UK and internationally, and will be able to evidence your future plans for research applications. Full details are provided in the accompanying job summary form.