Job description and selection criteria

The role

There is an urgent, unmet need for reliable, intelligent systems based on AI for supporting clinicians in delivering healthcare to an ever-increasing population with increasing comorbidities.  The Computational Health Informatics (CHI) Lab at the University of Oxford and its Suzhou site is building the next generation of healthcare systems for use in hospital and the home, based on machine learning.

The post-holder will take a senior role in the research activity of the CHI Lab within the Oxford-Suzhou Centre for Advanced Research (OSCAR) site at Suzhou, China, under the overall supervision of Prof. David Clifton of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering (IBME) at Oxford.  Research will be undertaken in collaboration with clinical colleagues in the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and other collaborators, including those based in China. 

OSCAR is a research-only institute in the Suzhou Industrial Park, Suzhou, China.  The post-holder will develop exciting research projects in AI for healthcare with existing and new collaborators in China, associated with CHI Lab’s portfolio of research projects.

The Institute of Biomedical Engineering (IBME) at the University of Oxford has a strong track record in commercialising its research outcomes, including the creation of spin-out companies.  Research outcomes from the programmes on which the post-holder would work would be considered for patenting, licensing, and spin-out activity as appropriate.  Oxford recognises researchers involved in such work via royalty streams, potential equity in resulting companies, etc.

The Post

The work will comprise machine learning research for analysing electronic medical record (EMR) data, including time-series of physiological data, blood test data, medications/interventions, and clinical diagnoses.  The post would be suitable for applicants with general interests in AI, machine learning, signal processing, computational statistics, and biomedical engineering.  There are excellent opportunities for publishing in the engineering / computer science literature as well as the medical literature.  The post will involve liaising closely with the Oxford-based lab, including exchange visits to Oxford.

Responsibilities

Specific duties:

• Develop research questions within the field of computational health informatics, conduct individual research, analysing detailed and complex qualitative and/or quantitative data from a variety of sources, and generate original ideas by building on existing concepts.
• Develop, establish, and pursue appropriate analytical protocols and techniques to support research.
• Regularly write research articles at an international level for peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, and reviews. Present papers at national and international conferences, and lead seminars to disseminate research findings.
• Agree clear task objectives, organise, and delegate work to other members of the team and coach other members of the group on specialist methodologies or procedures.
• Carry out collaborative projects with colleagues in partner institutions, and research groups.
• Use scientific equipment in a laboratory environment, especially pertaining to computational systems typically used for machine learning.
• Undertake literature searches for the project where appropriate, and interpret and present the findings to the research team and other interested parties.
• Keep informed of developments in the field of machine learning and its application to the problem domain.

Additional duties:       

• Manage own academic research and administrative activities. This involves small-scale project management, to co-ordinate multiple aspects of work to meet deadlines.
• Present regular summaries of research progress to the senior research supervisors.
• Collaborate in the preparation of scientific reports and journal articles and occasionally present papers and posters.
• Act as a source of information and advice to other members of the group on scientific protocols and experimental techniques.
• Contribute ideas for new research projects.
• Be responsible for submitting invoices and expenses claims for processing in accordance with the University regulations.
• Any other duties appropriate to this grade which may arise during the study.
• Undertake the usual tasks of a post-doctoral Research Assistant, including attending group meetings, contributing to seminars, presenting work to visitors, etc.

Selection criteria 

Essential

• Hold a relevant PhD / DPhil in AI, signal processing, or a cognate discipline.
• Strong publication record in machine learning, signal processing, computational statistics, or a cognate application area.
• Possess specialist knowledge (sufficient to develop research projects and methodologies) in the fields of machine learning tools for analysing healthcare data.
• Proven competence in mathematics and programming data analysis methods in Matlab or Python.

Desirable

• An interest in the application area of healthcare.