We are seeking a Research Assistant to carry out bioinformatic and statistical genetic analyses of virus genetic data in the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology in the School of Public Health, Imperial College London.

You will apply recently developed phylogenetic methods and epidemiological models to analyse HIV and SARS-CoV-2 data with the objective of identifying and evaluating genetic variants that influence transmissibility.

This work is to support a Wellcome Trust study of genetic variation of transmission fitness in viruses. A particular focus of this research will be investigation of fitness trade-offs between within-host replication and between-host transmission. We will study how beneficial mutations arise within hosts and spread at the epidemic level. An outcome of this research will be a new set of bioinformatic methods that can be used to enhance epidemiological surveillance and therapeutic strategies and a public database of genetic variants that influence transmission fitness. This role offers the opportunity to expand skills in genomic epidemiology, bioinformatics, and infectious disease modelling. The post holder will be expected to lead on any publications resulting from the analysis of these data.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:
Main research duties will be to:

• Apply statistical models for the study of genetic variants which influence transmission fitness
• Apply inference approaches for identifying and transmission fitness variants and quantifying their impact
• Carry out phylogenetic and statistical analysis of virus genomic data including SARS-CoV-2 and HIV

You will work within the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Epidemiology, directed by Professor Neil Ferguson, at Imperial College London which has been at the forefront of infectious disease analytics in the UK since 2007. The Centre contains a large concentration of expertise in genomic epidemiology including faculty working on a range of topics including evolution of antimicrobial resistance, molecular epidemiology, forensics and outbreak investigations, and phylogenetic methodology.

Essential Requirements:
We are looking for candidates with a first / masters degree (or equivalent) in Epidemiology, evolutionary biology, applied mathematics, statistics or a similarly quantitative discipline and experience using statistical computing software (R preferred).

Further Information:
The post is full time and fixed term until 31 August 2024 and will be based at the St Mary’s Campus, Paddington. Imperial College is supportive of flexible working. The College is happy to discuss the possibility of implementing such arrangements for this post, with suitably qualified people, subject to operational requirements.

Should you have any queries please contact: Dr Erik Volz, e.volz@imperial.ac.uk

We are committed to equality of opportunity, to eliminating discrimination and to creating an inclusive working environment for all. We therefore encourage candidates to apply irrespective of age, disability, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion and belief, gender identity, sex, or sexual orientation. We are an Athena SWAN Silver Award winner, a Disability Confident Leader and a Stonewall Diversity Champion.