Research Fellow in Breast Cancer Machine Learning

Type of Contract: Full-time, Funding limited for 30 months

Applications are invited for an independent and highly motivated postdoctoral scientist to join Prof Valerie Speirs group at the University of Aberdeen to work on a project “Predicting Response in Triple Negative Breast Cancer Using Machine Learning”. We seek to appoint a creative, experienced and motivated individual to use machine learning (ML) to identify why some patients with triple negative breast cancer experience early relapse while others don’t. This is a collaborative project involving Prof Joanne Edwards (University of Glasgow) and Prof Dr Jakob Kather (Technical University of Dresden). The post is funded by the Chief Scientist’s Office (CSO) of the Scottish Government and the successful candidate will spend 2 training blocks in Germany in the laboratory of Prof Dr Kather, a world leader in the application of ML to cancer.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) lacks the drug-targetable molecules ER, PR and HER2, meaning that treatment options are aggressive. Unfortunately, TNBC returns in many patients, even after chemotherapy. Subsequent treatment options result in poor response, leading to bleak outcomes. We have demonstrated that ML can extract meaningful information from human tissue sections that are commonly used for diagnosis and readily available from hospital pathology labs (PMID: 33763651; PMID: 37940649). This project will use ML to analyse tissue sections from TNBC patients, aiming to uncover hidden patterns and information that may not be apparent through traditional diagnostic methods. By leveraging ML, we aim to provide a more accurate and early assessment of TNBC aggressiveness. This will empower doctors to identify patients who require closer monitoring and may benefit from earlier, potentially lifesaving, medical interventions.

This position will be hosted in the Institute of Medical Sciences, which is located at the Foresterhill health campus, adjacent to the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, and part of the University of Aberdeen School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition. The post is also affiliated with the Aberdeen Cancer Centre, co-directed by Prof Speirs. The University of Aberdeen is home to the Aberdeen Computational Biology Forum, which brings together biomedical scientists, statisticians, computer scientists and physicists from across the university, to share ideas, research, and provide an integrated community for computational biologists within the university.

Salary will be at the appropriate point on the Grade 6, £37,999 - £41,421 per annum, pro rata and negotiable with placement according to qualifications and experience.

Prior to employment, the successful candidate must be able to demonstrate their right to work in the UK.  This role may be eligible for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route under the UKVI immigration rules but is dependent on factors specific to the candidate and if tradeable points can be used under the rules.

Information on other visa options is available at https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa.

Please do not hesitate to contact:

Grant Rae, HR Adviser (e-mail: grant.rae@abdn.ac.uk) for further information.

To apply online for this position, please click the 'Apply' button, above.

The closing date for the receipt of applications is 25 November 2024

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