This is an exciting opportunity for an ambitious Research Fellow to join Professor De Angelis' team at the MRC Biostatistics Unit to carry out research as part of a cross-institution and multi-disciplinary collaboration EPIToPe (https://www.bristol.ac.uk/population-health-sciences/projects/epitope/), Epitope aims to generate evidence on the effectiveness of Treatment as Prevention (TasP) strategies in eliminating Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection in people who inject drugs.

HCV is the second largest contributor to liver disease in the UK, with injecting drug use as the main risk factor among the estimated 200,000 people currently infected. Use of direct-acting antiviral HCV therapies, which combine high cure rates and short treatment duration with few side effects, has been substantially scaled-up in the UK to achieve the internationally set goal of eliminating HCV by 2030.

This position is to develop and apply statistical approaches to evaluate the impact of TasP on HCV infection prevalence in the UK and monitor progress towards the elimination targets. Challenges include: making causal statements on the basis of observational data collected from national surveillance schemes; accounting for temporal trends and geographical heterogeneity in the data; estimating the relationship between TasP effect and TasP intensity; and adjusting for the impact that the SAR-CoV-2 pandemic has had on the data collection.

The successful candidate will have a PhD in a strongly quantitative discipline, ideally statistics, but applications from candidates close to submitting their PhD are also welcome.

Research experience in Bayesian statistics, longitudinal modelling, including time series analysis, is essential as is experience in statistical programming and ability to produce high-quality academic writing. Experience with causal inference would be highly advantageous, but not essential. Good communication skills and an enthusiasm for collaborating with non-statistical scientists are also essential. The successful applicant will be supported in their career development with a range of formal courses and on-the-job training.

The Unit is situated on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, one of the world's most vibrant centres of biomedical research, which includes the University of Cambridge's Clinical School, two major hospitals, the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, and the world headquarters of Astra Zeneca.

Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available until 31 July 2024 in the first instance.

For an informal discussion about this post please contact daniela.deangelis@mrc-bsu.cam.ac.uk

Please ensure that you upload a covering letter and a 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.

The closing date for applications is: 28th February 2023

The interview date for the role is: To be confirmed

Please quote reference SL35284 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.