Research Assistant (Fixed Term)

3 year Fixed Term Contract, Full Time 37 hours per week,  Monday to Friday 

We wish to appoint a Research Assistant to work on a national project with the TIMELY Team, in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge. The TIMELY Team is working to build clinically useful digital tools to predict mental health problems in children and young people and to support prevention pathways. This role will support a collaborative project to establish and develop The National Mental Health (MH) Translational Research Collaborative's Secure Data Environment (MH-TRC SDE). 

The appointee will work with the Research Associate on the project (Dr Rachel Sippy) and the University of Cambridge team (Dr Anna Moore, Rudolph Cardinal), and collaborators at NHS Merseyside (Dr Jim Hughes), University of Liverpool, Swansea University, Arden and Greater East Midlands CSU, King's College London, the SDE Network and HDR UK. The role is funded by the NIHR. 

The project is focused on developing data resources to support MH research. The Research Assistant will contribute to the creation of a population-wide, multi-agency database called CADRE (Child and Adolescent Data Resource), which combines data drawn from healthcare, social care, education, and other services. CADRE is one of many MH SDEs that support MH research nationally; these SDEs require their raw data to be standardised to the OMOP Common Data Model. The Research Assistant will support a high-level landscape review of OMOP use for MH data. They will adapt the CADRE standardisation approach to SDEs in Birmingham, Liverpool, and Manchester, as part of the effort to build a streamlined toolkit/guidelines to support OMOP standardisation for MH SDEs nationally. We are especially interested in integrating digital tools, including artificial intelligence, to the standardisation process. 

The Research Assistant will liaise with MH SDEs and data providers from across the UK. They will perform support tasks for the team and attend team meetings. Contribution to publications is needed. Necessary training is provided. 

For further details and to apply, please read the Further Particulars.

Informal enquiries are welcomed and should be directed to: Dr Rachel Sippy, Email: rjs271@cam.ac.uk

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 'Apply' 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: 4th January 2026

Interview date: to be confirmed

Please quote reference RN48165 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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