Research Associate in Imaging in NMDs

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The Role
We are delighted to offer an exciting opportunity for a Post Doctoral Research Associate (Evaluator) to our team at the John Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre, Newcastle University, working on a Myositis UK funded project to validate MRI-based diagnostic biomarkers for inclusion body myositis (IBM). You will join an internationally recognised neuromuscular research environment in Newcastle and work closely with Professor Giorgio Tasca, Professor Jordi Diaz-Manera, and collaborating international referral centres contributing anonymised muscle MRI datasets to the study.

IBM is the most common acquired myopathy in people over 40 years of age, but diagnosis is often delayed or incorrect because robust diagnostic biomarkers are lacking. This project, "Validation and AI implementation of MRI Diagnostic Criteria for Inclusion Body Myositis: establishing imaging biomarkers to improve diagnostics and trial recruitment", will provide the first large-scale external multicentre validation of refined MRI diagnostic criteria and compare expert visual assessment with AI-assisted MRI analysis.

The postholder will have a central role in the blinded MRI reading phase of the study and will provide expert evaluation of muscle MRI scans collected from international neuromuscular centres. You will apply refined IBM MRI diagnostic criteria, undertake semiquantitative scoring across approximately 40 muscles per scan, and contribute repeat assessments for intra-rater reproducibility analyses, helping to establish structured muscle MRI as a reliable diagnostic biomarker for IBM.

Find out more about the Faculty of Medical Sciences here: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/medical-sciences/.

Find out more about our Research Institutes: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/medical-sciences/research/institutes/.

This is a fixed-term post for 8 months.

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