Malpetti Lab

Dr Maura Malpetti is looking for an enthusiastic Post-Doctoral Research Associate or Research Assistant to join her lab at the Department of Clinical Neurosciences of the University of Cambridge. The post is part of a Cambridge-based program aiming to investigate neuroinflammation in frontotemporal lobar degeneration and accelerate the development of treatments for dementia. To this end, we also recently established a multi-centre study, the UK-wide Open Network for Frontotemporal dementia Inflammation Research (ON-FIRE), which involves data collection from 22 sites across the UK.

The post will focus on the integration of novel PET and blood-based biomarkers of neuroinflammation, neuropathology and neurodegeneration, and clinical outcomes in models of disease progression in genetic and sporadic frontotemporal lobar degeneration. In this role, you will lead (i) PET imaging recruitment and data analysis in patients with frontotemporal dementia and progressive supranuclear palsy, (ii) the coordination of ON-FIRE and related studies on blood-based biomarkers. You will drive the project, develop and deliver the study's research objectives and be well equipped to present developments and key findings to relevant stakeholders.

For this post, you will have an undergraduate and/or a PhD in neurosciences, psychology, physiology or related discipline. You will have knowledge of neuroimaging, related research methods and applications, and project management skills. Experience in patient recruitment in research studies of dementia or mental health disorders would be advantageous. You will collaborate within a balanced team with post-doctoral scientists, clinical fellows, research nurses and students to ensure efficient research activities across the centre.

For informal inquiries regarding the role, contact Dr Maura Malpetti (mm2243@medschl.cam.ac.uk). The role will primarily be based at the Herchel Smith Building for Brain and Mind Sciences, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, CB2 0SZ. The University values diversity and is committed to equality of opportunity. We particularly encourage women and/or candidates from a minority background to apply for this vacancy as they are currently under-represented at this level within our University.

Closing date: 8th December 2024. 

Dr Maura Malpetti is looking for an enthusiastic Post-Doctoral Research Associate to join her lab at the Cambridge University Department of Clinical Neurosciences. The post is part of a Cambridge-based program aiming to investigate inflammation in frontotemporal dementia and accelerate the development of treatments for dementia. To this end, we recently established a multi-centre study, the UK-wide Open Network for Frontotemporal dementia Inflammation Research (ON-FIRE), which involves data collection from 22 sites across the UK.

As a Post-Doctoral Research Associate, you will lead the statistical analysis and data management for multivariate biomarkers identified using novel biochemical assays, including SIMOA, NULISA, Mass Spectrometry, multiomics and other data generating platforms. The role will involve computational analyses of blood-derived data - not wet-lab analyses on the samples - and leading academic and industry partners, including biochemical laboratory facilities such as the Biomarker Factory at the Dementia Research Institute.

The postholder will develop pipelines to (i) centralise adjunct data from all sites to Cambridge; (ii) combine multimodal data, linking blood samples to NHS digital records, genetics and available neuroimages; (iii) format and share data through the Dementias Platform UK data portal. You will lead computational analyses on biomarkers data, polygenic risk score calculations, and immunophenotyping data. You will drive the project, develop and deliver the study's research objectives and be well equipped to present developments and key findings to relevant stakeholders.

For this post, you will have an undergraduate and/or a PhD in Bioinformatics, Statistics or related discipline. You will have in-depth of knowledge of biostatistics, and related research methods and applications. Experience with machine learning algorithms and strong programming skills using platforms such as MATLAB, R, Bash and Python will be essential.

For informal inquiries regarding the role, contact Dr Maura Malpetti (mm2243@medschl.cam.ac.uk). The role will primarily be based at the Herchel Smith Building for Brain and Mind Sciences, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, CB2 0SZ. The University values diversity and is committed to equality of opportunity. We particularly encourage women and/or candidates from a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic background to apply for this vacancy as they are currently under-represented at this level within our University.

Closing date: 8th December 2024