Research Fellow in Optical Imaging of the Infant Brain

About us

UCL’s Department of Medical Physics & Biomedical Engineering is one of the longest-established and largest UK academic departments devoted to healthcare engineering. We have a highly multidisciplinary staff profile, including physicists, engineers, computer scientists, mathematicians, clinicians, chemists, and biologists. Our research is strongly focussed on clinical translation, and benefits from close collaborations with the UK’s leading hospitals in London and beyond, which enables our research to be at the forefront of healthcare technology development. In addition to its research activities, we also run a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes.

Our department is home to the Biomedical Optics Research Laboratory (BORL), Europe’s largest academic research group devoted to the development of new optical systems and techniques for medical diagnostics. In a collaboration between BORL scientists and the Rosie Hospital, Cambridge, the recruiting team have received a research grant from EPSRC to investigate a new optical method of detecting and assessing brain injury in newborn infants. This has created this opportunity for a suitable qualified electronic engineer or physicist to contribute to new innovations in medical technology and work in an exciting, highly multi-disciplinary environment.

About the role

Applications are invited for a postdoctoral electronic engineer or physicist to join a multi-disciplinary team who are international recognised as leaders in the application of optical systems for diagnosis and assessment of infant brain pathology. The job will involve designing, building, and evaluating a new kind of optical imaging system for assessing a variety of newborn infant neuro-pathologies in a hospital intensive care unit. The postholder will have primary responsibility for the development and evaluation of the system, and of the data processing and image display software. The postholder will also work with the clinical team to test the system on newborn infants. The role will also involve preparing and presenting findings of research activity to colleagues for review purposes, contributing to the drafting and submitting of papers to appropriate peer-reviewed journals, and contributing to the overall activities of the research team and department as required.

For more information about this role, please contact the project lead, Prof. Jem Hebden at j.hebden@ucl.ac.uk.

About you

The successful applicant will have a PhD in electronic engineering, physics, or a related subject. The applicant will have experience in designing, assembling, and testing electronic systems, and have familiarity with the principles and operation of optical imaging methods and technologies. Demonstrable skills in data processing and computer-aided design, authorship of scientific papers, communication skills and a willingness to contribute to public engagement events, as well as professionalism when dealing with external collaborators are also essential.

The role will require the applicant to: design and assemble novel opto-electronic imaging hardware; develop and implement software for system control, data calibration and processing; evaluate the system on objects with tissue-like properties and on adult human volunteers; and assist with ethically-approved imaging studies on newborn infants. The role holder will also present this work at international conferences and in papers published in scientific journals.

Customer advert reference: B04-06511

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