Research Associate (Bioinformatics) Cardiff

Dementia is the biggest health challenge of our century.

To date there is no way to prevent it or even slow its progression, and there is an urgent need to fill the knowledge gap in our basic understanding of the diseases that cause it.

The UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI) is the biggest UK initiative driving forward research to fill this gap.

The position is based in the UK Dementia Research Institute at Cardiff University, which is one of six Dementia Research Institute UK centres. The UK DRI is a well-funded institute focused on elucidating and targeting the pathways and mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative disease, offering an exciting research environment closely aligned with established expertise in the MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics.  

Rapid advances in DNA technologies and computational biology are enabling scientists to identify more and more of the subtle DNA variations that can influence a person’s risk of developing different neurodegenerative diseases. Researchers at the UK DRI at Cardiff interrogate the host of genetic variations linked with neurodegenerative diseases to make new discoveries about disease processes. They use experimental model systems along with a variety of cutting-edge experimental methods and equipment to dissect the biology of many of these genes. Building on the team’s international reputation for complex data analyses, they develop and apply advanced computational approaches that enable them to make sense of huge datasets generated by complex experiments.

We have an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic and experienced computational biologist to join Professor Caleb Webber’s research group within the UK Dementia Research Institute at Cardiff University.  The Webber group is expert in informatics and single cell analyses. The post holder will play a leading role in constructing cellular atlases of a range of human brain tissues using large sets of single cell data newly generated for this project. Through bioinformatics, functional genomics and statistical genetics approaches, the post holder will identify cell type-specific gene networks that intersect with a range of human genetic risks. This is a collaboration between Cardiff University, Oxford University and industry to deliver the next generation of CNS therapeutic targets. 

The post holder will work independently and as part of a multi-disciplinary team, to perform self-directed analyses using novel and publicly available datasets delivering high impact, peer-reviewed publications. Applicants should be knowledgeable and enthusiastic with the ability to multi-task and communicate effectively. This academic/industrial partnership means collaborative working will be a key component of this role and effective communication skills will be vital. 

The successful applicant will have proven expertise large-scale data analyses and manipulation, ideally single cell data analyses. Expert knowledge of data manipulation in a UNIX/Linux environment and proficiency in high level programming languages such as Perl, Python, or R Statistics is essential along with a good biological knowledge of neurodegenerative disease.

Main function

To conduct bioinformatics, functional genomics and statistical genetics research on single cell gene expression data from human post-mortem tissue, and contribute to the overall research performance of the School and University, carrying out research leading to the publishing of work in high-quality journals. To pursue excellence in research and to inspire others to do the same.