Research Fellow

Location:  

Salary:  

Closing Date:  

Interview Date:  

Reference:  

Faculty of Medicine

School of Human Development and Health

An opportunity has arisen for a Research Fellow to join the Faculty of Medicine, School of Human Development and Health, based at Southampton General Hospital site. The successful candidate will join a research team involved in a collaborative project working with the University of Oxford and the Biomedical Research Institute of Girona.
The aim of this project is to investigate if cognitive decline is associated with changes in the amount of circulating and excreted metabolites related to gut microbial metabolism. A second aim is to explore how these changes are influenced by obesity. 

To investigate this, an initial discovery phase will leverage banked plasma and faecal samples from a large cross-sectional human study where cognition has been found to be inversely correlated with age and BMI. A combination of high-resolution untargeted (NMR spectroscopy-based) and targeted (mass spectrometry-based) metabolomic approaches will be used to measure a broad range of metabolic features associated with gut microbial metabolism. Integrative multivariate data analysis techniques will be used to combine this metabolic data with existing shotgun metagenomic, brain structure and function data to identify microorganism-function-metabolite relationships related to cognitive decline. Candidate microbial metabolites will then be validated using samples from an independent longitudinal study with accompanying metagenome, brain structure and function data. Finally, rodent models at the University of Oxford will be used to demonstrate causality and understand the biomolecular mechanisms contributing to cognitive decline. 

The post holder will be required to process, house, and analyse multi-platform data generated by the project team to identify relevant spectral features and metabolic pathways associated with cognitive decline, obesity, gut microbial status and information on brain structure and function. 

The role requires expertise in MS-based metabolomics, MS method development, classical statistics, microbiomics, nutrition, and human biochemistry. This role will be involved in database management with respect to curation, storage, and distribution of the data. Data will be mapped to biological pathways and interpretation will be achieved together with input from other team members.

The successful candidate should have experience in metabolic profiling and an understanding of how to fuse complex multi-omic datasets. A PhD in analytical chemistry, bioinformatics, and/or metabolomics is essential.

This full-time position is offered for a fixed-term for 18 months in the first instance.  The post will be aligned to the Faculty of Medicine, School of Human Development and Health, University of Southampton, based at Southampton General Hospital site and Highfield campus. 

For further information please contact Prof Jonathan Swann ([email protected]).

Applications for Research Fellow positions will be considered from candidates who are working towards or nearing completion of a relevant PhD qualification. The title of Research Fellow will be applied upon successful completion of the PhD. Prior to the qualification being awarded the title of Senior Research Assistant will be given.

We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and welcome applicants who supports our mission of inclusivity.

Apply by midnight on the closing date. For assistance contact Recruitment on +44(0)2380 592750 or [email protected] quoting the job number.