Research Associate – KERRI Breathlessness Project

Job id: 087486. Salary: £43,205 - £50,585 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance.

Posted: 09 April 2024. Closing date: 16 April 2024.

Business unit: Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care. Department: Palliative Care, Policy & Rehabilitation.

Contact details:Dr Sabrina Bajwah. [email protected]

Location: Denmark Hill Campus. Category: Research.

This role

This is an outstanding development opportunity for an enthusiastic, motivated individual with a track record of data analyses, predictive modelling work in in research to join the Cicely Saunders Institute within the Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care.

The Institute is the first purpose-built facility for research into palliative care. The Institute benefits from a unique collaboration of palliative care and rehabilitation teams that brings together multi-professionals including academics, health and social care professionals, community organisations, patients and carers.

Breathlessness accounts for approximately 20% of A&E admissions to King's College Hospital. Nationally, the prevalence of breathlessness is higher for people from ethnically diverse, and low socioeconomic groups. This study will use data from the King’s College Hospital Electronic Records Research Interface (KERRI) to understand the needs and characteristics of the local population living with chronic breathlessness. The analysis will require extensive data cleaning expertise and will apply advanced statistical techniques including predictive modelling, natural language processing and the development and validation of an explainable artificial intelligence (AI) model.

The postholder will also contribute to a smaller additional study, analysing patient-centred outcome data from 3 sites in Uganda. The routinely collected data will be reported back to sites to identify areas of good practice and items which would benefit from quality improvement. The postholder will work with a biostatistican in Uganda on this NIHR-funded African programme.

Why choose us?

King’s College London is a leading University with nine Faculties. As part of King’s Health Partners , we have an excellent environment for health care interaction and a strong focus on mentoring and career development.

The 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF2021) placed King’s applied and allied health research 1st for: overall proportion of research rated 4* (world-leading, the best mark possible), research papers rated 4*, impact rated 4*, environment rated 4*(joint), Grade Point Average and Power.  REF2021 rated as world-leading: 100% of our environment, 86% of our impact and 70% of our research overall. Over 95% of our research overall was rated as world-leading or internationally excellent.

For the last five years, King’s has been number 2 in the world and number 1 in Europe for Nursing (QS world rankings). King’s produces more highly cited research outputs (top 1% citations) on palliative care than any other centre internationally (SciVal).

It is based in the heart of central and south London. It includes the Cicely Saunders Institute for Palliative Care, Policy and Rehabilitation , the premier Institute for Palliative Care, bringing together clinical, research and education teams.

Our award-winning NMPC education programmes span pre-registration nursing and midwifery, and multidisciplinary post-graduate taught and research programmes. King’s is the largest provider of health care education in Europe. Our applied clinical and health research transforms therapies, the healthcare experience and outcomes for patients and those important to them, wherever they are cared for.

You should apply if

We are seeking an enthusiastic and dedicated researcher with a strong track record in data analyses and a passion for machine learning and artificial intelligence in healthcare. You should have excellent communication, collaboration skills, and a demonstratable ability to deliver high quality impactful sustainable research.

This is a full-time post (100% wte)  on a fixed term contract until June 2025.

• Data acquisition, cleaning, and validating the quality of the data. This clinical data source requires close attention to detail and a strong focus on quality.
• Collaboratively developing analysis plans for applied research.
• Scoping literature and situating this work within the wider field.
• Carrying out descriptive and advanced statistical analysis, presenting this work verbally and in written format for various audiences.
• Writing reports and academic papers to a high standard.
• Contributing to wider activities of the research team as appropriate.
• Contributing to research and education activities within the Cicely Saunders Institute.

The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.

Essential criteria

Desirable criteria

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.

We are committed to continually improving the diversity of our workforce, and therefore we encourage applications from all groups. This includes from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic groups, the LGBTQI+ community, those who are neurodiverse and those with a disability.

King’s considers the professional and personal development of our staff a priority and we offer an inspiring range of opportunities for training and career progression. Our Organisational Development team provide in-house and bespoke learning.

Please note that occasional travel to London for research team meetings and co-design workshops will be required but flexible working arrangements beyond this are acceptable.