Back to search results

Principal Bioinformatician

The University of Manchester - National Biomarker Centre (NBC)

Location: Manchester
Salary: £38,000 to £45,000
Hours: Full Time
Contract Type: Permanent
Placed On: 30th August 2024
Closes: 15th September 2024
Job Ref: MI/24/45

Fixed term until 31 August 2027

Background:

The National Biomarker Centre (NBC), in the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute, is an acknowledged world leader in the study of minimally invasive biomarkers, or liquid biopsies, for improving cancer management. We have a highly interdisciplinary team working to develop a blood test to identify the tissue-of-origin (TOO) of tumours for patients diagnosed with a cancer of unknown primary (CUP). CUP is a metastatic cancer for which the primary tumour cannot be determined despite extensive diagnostic work up, limiting treatment options for these patients. We have shown in a proof-of-concept study that a machine learning classifier, named CUPiD, can determine the TOO of cancers using cell free DNA (cfDNA) methylation profiles generated using our in-house method T7-MBD-seq1,2

About the role:

We are pleased to be able to offer the opportunity for a Principal Bioinformatician to join the NBC, to work on the optimisation and validation of our TOO classifier1. You will work alongside our multidisciplinary team of clinicians, molecular biologists, and computational scientists on a Cancer Research UK funded project to develop CUPiD towards a clinically validated approach.

The main area of focus will be the development and application of statistical/machine learning approaches to enhance classifier performance, for example through:

  • Refinement of data augmentation strategies for generating training data sets
  • Multi-omic data integration, combining genomic and fragmentomic features alongside methylation profiles
  • Optimisation of classifier hyperparameters
  • Improved statistical models for normalisation of our genome-wide methylation sequencing data and for detection of differentially methylated regions.

The optimised classifier will then be validated in a large cohort of cfDNA samples from patients with known cancer types. This is an exciting opportunity to develop and apply computational methods to high-throughput data in a translational research project with a clear line of sight to clinical application.

About you:

You should have a PhD in Computational Biology/Bioinformatics, Statistics, Computer Science (or related discipline), or a relevant postgraduate degree in Computational Biology/Bioinformatics, Statistics, Computer Science or related discipline plus significant relevant experience. You will have significant experience in the development and/or application of statistical/machine learning methods, particularly supervised learning approaches, and demonstrable experience in areas of bioinformatics pertaining to the analysis of high-throughput data. You will also have significant experience in writing code for robust and reproducible analysis. Experience with generative machine learning models, Bayesian models or generalised linear models for count data is desirable, as is an understanding of liquid biopsies, cancer genomics/epigenomics, and cancer biology.

You will have excellent communication skills and the ability to converse successfully with interdisciplinary collaborators. Experience of multidisciplinary teamwork would be beneficial.

Why choose the CRUK National Biomarker Centre?

The Cancer Research UK National Biomarker Centre (https://cruknbc.org/) is a leading and highly specialised translational research centre within The University of Manchester (www.manchester.ac.uk), core funded by Cancer Research UK (www.cancerresearchuk.org), the largest independent cancer research organisation in the world.

How to apply?

To apply for this position please visit our website: https://www.cruk.manchester.ac.uk/recruitment/candidate/searchvacancies

For any informal enquiries about this post, please contact Dr Alex Clipson via email: alexandra.clipson@cruk.manchester.ac.uk

The deadline for receipt of applications is Sunday 15 September.

Interviews: w/c 23 September 2024.

1Conway, Pearce, Clipson et al. Nature Communications (2024); 2Chemi, Pearce et al. Nature Cancer (2022).

We value your feedback on the quality of our adverts. If you have a comment to make about the overall quality of this advert, or its categorisation then please send us your feedback
Advert information

Type / Role:

Subject Area(s):

Location(s):

Job tools
 

PhD Alert Created

Job Alert Created

Your PhD alert has been successfully created for this search.

Your job alert has been successfully created for this search.

Ok Ok

PhD Alert Created

Job Alert Created

Your PhD alert has been successfully created for this search.

Your job alert has been successfully created for this search.

Manage your job alerts Manage your job alerts

Account Verification Missing

In order to create multiple job alerts, you must first verify your email address to complete your account creation

Request verification email Request verification email

jobs.ac.uk Account Required

In order to create multiple alerts, you must create a jobs.ac.uk jobseeker account

Create Account Create Account

Alert Creation Failed

Unfortunately, your account is currently blocked. Please login to unblock your account.

Email Address Blocked

We received a delivery failure message when attempting to send you an email and therefore your email address has been blocked. You will not receive job alerts until your email address is unblocked. To do so, please choose from one of the two options below.

Max Alerts Reached

A maximum of 5 Job Alerts can be created against your account. Please remove an existing alert in order to create this new Job Alert

Manage your job alerts Manage your job alerts

Creation Failed

Unfortunately, your alert was not created at this time. Please try again.

Ok Ok

Create PhD Alert

Create Job Alert

When you create this PhD alert we will email you a selection of PhDs matching your criteria.When you create this job alert we will email you a selection of jobs matching your criteria. Our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy apply to this service. Any personal data you provide in setting up this alert is processed in accordance with our Privacy Notice

Create PhD Alert

Create Job Alert

When you create this PhD alert we will email you a selection of PhDs matching your criteria.When you create this job alert we will email you a selection of jobs matching your criteria. Our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy apply to this service. Any personal data you provide in setting up this alert is processed in accordance with our Privacy Notice

 
 
More jobs from The University of Manchester

Show all jobs for this employer …

More jobs like this
Join in and follow us

Browser Upgrade Recommended

jobs.ac.uk has been optimised for the latest browsers.

For the best user experience, we recommend viewing jobs.ac.uk on one of the following:

Google Chrome Firefox Microsoft Edge