Research Assistant (Fixed Term)

18 months  Fixed Term to start December 2025, Full Time Monday to Friday

We are seeking a motivated and experienced Research Assistant to join an innovative, co-produced initiative aiming to make mental health omics data more harmonized, accessible, understandable, and useful to researchers, clinicians, industry, and people with lived experience. You will work closely with a multidisciplinary team including data engineers, clinicians, software developers, and lived experience experts to:

• Scope and integrate new datasets into an new web interface, focusing on mental health-relevant omics and real-world data.
• Contribute to the enhancement of the Open Targets Platform to better present psychiatry-relevant omics data and make it more accessible to diverse users.
• Collaborate with people with lived experience (PWLE) to co-develop an accessible "second skin" for the interface, ensuring usability and inclusivity.
• Assist in data analysis, including harmonisation of large-scale datasets and exploration of biological and environmental associations.
• Contribute to academic outputs, including manuscripts for peer-reviewed journals and presentations at conferences.

This is a unique opportunity to gain experience in:

• Functional genomics and psychiatric epidemiology
• Clinical informatics and data harmonisation
• Co-production and participatory research methods
• Working within a cutting-edge UK-wide data infrastructure initiative

You will be based in the Department of Psychiatry at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus and will be part of the dynamic new Cambridge-Oxford BioMind Lab, led by Dr Mary-Ellen Lynall, with access to training courses, seminars, and mentoring opportunities. You will also work closely with Dr Ellen McDonagh's team at Open Targets / European Bioinformatics Institute.

You should have strong organisational and communication skills, experience working with data in either R or Python, a medical degree, experience in functional genomic analyses, and experience working with people with lived experience in a clinical or research context.

We would support the successful candidate in applying for admission to a PhD at the University of Cambridge, should they wish to do so alongside this role.

Informal enquiries are welcomed and should be directed to:

Dr Mary-Ellen Lynall, Project Lead - mel41@cam.ac.uk For further details and to apply, please read the Further Particulars.

If you have any queries regarding the application process please contact Simon Gurry, HR Coordinator at hradminpsychiatry@medschl.cam.ac.uk

To apply online for this vacancy and to view further information about the role, please click the' Apply' button above. 

Please ensure that you upload a covering letter and CV in the Upload section of the online application. The covering letter should outline how you match the criteria for the post and why you are applying for this role. If you upload any additional documents which have not been requested, we will not be able to consider these as part of your application.

Please include details of your referees, including email address and phone number, one of which must be your most recent line manager.

Closing date: 19th October 2025

Interview date: to be confirmed

Please quote reference RN47539 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.

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