Research Associate in Nutritional Epidemiology

About the role

This project needs a motivated, ambitious researcher to work on an exciting body of research to study the inter-relationships between the consumption of nuts, lifestyle, and health outcomes (funded by the Almond Board of California). You will be joining the Department of Nutritional Sciences at King’s College London, working in collaboration with ZOE Ltd. You will first analyse data collected from the ZOE PREDICT cohorts to answer research questions relating to consumption of almonds, a wide range of health outcomes, and gut microbiome composition. You will also investigate longitudinal changes in almond consumption and associations with health outcomes.  Strong quantitative research skills and experience in statistical analysis of large datasets (preferably using R Studio) will be essential. You will need good communication skills and a drive to apply your knowledge and skills to nutrition and health research.  You will have a PhD in nutrition, health sciences or bioinformatics, epidemiology, public health or data sciences, ideally with a focus on utilising large diet and health datasets.

In recent years, the field of nutrition science has undergone advances in big data research, with researchers delving deeper into the complex relationships between diet, gut microbiome, and a multitude of markers of optimal human health. The PREDICT studies have been at the forefront of personalised nutrition research, uncovering diet-microbiome-health associations at an unprecedented depth and scale. Although this research has shown that nuts are one of the most strongly associated food groups with irregular sleep patterns and microbiome, almond nut consumption and its potential effects on a larger range of parameters remain unexplored. Conducting a comprehensive deep-dive cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis, in the unique PREDICT data set, of almond consumption and its impact on gut microbiome, cardiometabolic health, appetite, sleep, skin health, mental health, cognition, and menopausal symptoms holds immense scientific significance, offering insights that could reshape dietary recommendations and improve overall well-being.

This is a full time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered a fixed term contract until 31/07/2026.

About You

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

Essential criteria

• PhD in nutrition, epidemiology, bioinformatics, public health or other related quantitative discipline or with extensive equivalent research experience*
• Programming skills that include knowledge of R, or other programming languages, and use of statistical packages
• Experience in conducting statistical analysis of large datasets and the ability to evaluate and interpret data output
• Excellent working knowledge of nutritional epidemiology and dietary assessment
• Committed to equality, diversity, and inclusion, actively addressing areas of potential bias

*Please note that this is a PhD level role but candidates who have submitted their thesis and are awaiting award of their PhDs will be considered. In these circumstances the appointment will be made at Grade 5, spine point 30 with the title of Research Assistant. Upon confirmation of the award of the PhD, the job title will become Research Associate and the salary will increase to Grade 6.

Desirable criteria

• Ability to troubleshoot data issues by themselves, and to escalate the issue where appropriate
• Knowledge of advanced statistical models
• Knowledge of gut microbiome
• Demonstrable record of publications in peer-reviewed conference proceedings and scientific journals

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