Postdoctoral Research Assistant - UOD2196

Postdoctoral Research Assistant (full-time) UOD2196

School of Medicine

Population Health and Genomics

Grade 7, spine point 29: £37,174

Fixed-term for 15 months (full-time)

Role Purpose

We are recruiting for a highly motivated postdoctoral research assistant to join the Chronic Pain Research Group, based at Ninewells Hospital and Medical School. You will work on a new project investigating risk factors for poor outcomes in people with substance use disorder and chronic pain, with a focus on women experiencing multiple inequalities. Funded by the Janet Kilmurry Trust, this research aims to benefit women, children and those from deprived backgrounds.

The role combines health informatics, epidemiology and clinical research, requiring strong analytical skills and the ability to work collaboratively across data science and patient-facing teams.

For the data linkage arm of the project, you will use health informatics to identify sociodemographic and clinical factors contributing to disparities in fatal and non-fatal overdose among people with substance use disorder. This involves working with large, linked datasets accessed through the Scottish National Safe Haven, including hospital admissions, prescribing records, mortality data, and demographic indicators. Key tasks include data cleaning, harmonisation and advanced statistical modelling, in collaboration with Public Health Scotland's eDRIS team.

For the prospective clinical study, you will explore how adverse childhood experiences influence sensory phenotypes in individuals with chronic pain and/or substance use disorder. Building on the ACE-MAP study, you will be actively involved in the recruitment and assessment of women through clinical services, using validated questionnaires and quantitative sensory testing.

Throughout the project, you will collaborate with people with lived experience of chronic pain on study design, conduct and dissemination. There will be opportunities for skills development in advanced statistics (e.g., R) and clinical phenotyping. The successful applicant will lead data integration, present findings at scientific meetings, draft peer-reviewed publications and contribute to future grant applications.

This is a fixed-term post, dependent on external funding. In person working will be required for some of the study activities, but where appropriate, hybrid working will be supported.

Your key duties will include:

• Working with eDRIS to access, clean and manage large-scale linked health datasets.
• Performing statistical modelling to identify risk factors for overdose.
• Involvement in participant recruitment and assessment for the experimental medicine study.
• Undertake training in sensory phenotyping and statistics as appropriate.
• Ensuring compliance with ethical standards and data governance throughout.
• Work closely with patient partners and contribute to public engagement activities.
• Lead and contribute to reports, scientific papers, presentations, and dissemination of findings.

Who we're looking for:

• PhD in a quantitative biomedical discipline.
• Strong statistical skills and proficiency in statistical software (e.g., R, STATA, SPSS).
• Experience of working in a clinical environment and/or epidemiological research.
• Evidence of research output through previous publications and presentations.
• Ability to work independently, manage deadlines and collaborate effectively.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English.

A full list of qualifications, experience and skills required for this post can be found in the job description - please refer to this for full details when writing your application.

Additional Information:

For further information about this position please contact Professor Lesley Colvin, Chair of Pain Medicine ([email protected]) or Dr Harry Hébert, Principal Investigator ([email protected]).

The University of Dundee enjoys an international reputation for excellence that attracts top-class students and academics from across the world - with over 140 countries represented in the University community. You will be part of the new Faculty of Health, based at Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, one of Europe's largest teaching hospitals where the School of Medicine provides outstanding opportunities in medical education and training supported by world class research facilities.

The calibre of research at Dundee is high, with 95% of staff working in areas of national or international excellence. Dundee benefits from a developed network of inter-disciplinary researchers collaborating across various Schools across our community.

The diversity of our staff and students helps to make the University of Dundee a UK university of choice for undergraduate, postgraduate and distance learning. Family friendly policies, staff networks for BME, Disabled and LGBT staff, membership of Athena SWAN, the ECU Race Equality Charter and Stonewall as well a full range of disability services, create an enjoyable and inclusive place to work.