Research Associate in Surgical Vision and Artificial Intelligence

Job summary

Applicants are invited to apply for a new vacancy at Research Associate level in Surgical Vision and Artificial Intelligence for intraoperative surgical guidance during cancer resection. The post is based within the Hamlyn Centre at Imperial College London and the postholder will carry out research at the South Kensington laboratories. The Hamlyn Centre is dedicated to developing safe, effective and accessible imaging, sensing and robotics…

Job listing information

• Reference MED02966
• Date posted 8 February 2022
• Closing date 19 April 2022

Key information about the role

• Location: South Kensington Campus(map)
• Position type: Full time, fixed term
• Salary: £41,593 – £49,210 plus benefits
• Department: Department of Surgery & Cancer
• Category:  Researcher / Non Clinical Researcher

Job description

Job summary

Applicants are invited to apply for a new vacancy at Research Associate level in Surgical Vision and Artificial Intelligence for intraoperative surgical guidance during cancer resection. The post is based within the Hamlyn Centre at Imperial College London and the postholder will carry out research at the South Kensington laboratories. The Hamlyn Centre is dedicated to developing safe, effective and accessible imaging, sensing and robotics technologies that can reshape the future of healthcare for both developing and developed countries. The Hamlyn Centre is part of the Institute of Global Health Innovation and is supported by two stake-holding departments, Mechanical Engineering, and Surgery & Cancer.

The post is funded by the Royal Society University Research Fellowship “GENIUS: Guidance for cancer resection with artificial intelligence and surgical vision” led by Dr Giannarou. The fellowship focuses on the development of an intraoperative vision system for surgical navigation and real-time tissue characterisation during robotic-assisted neurosurgery to improve both the efficacy and safety of tumour resections. A key application is the resection of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) but its versatile nature makes it suitable for any cancer resection procedure. The successful applicant will be a key member of a large team of engineers, scientists and clinicians, from multiple departments of Imperial College and the NHS.

Duties and responsibilities

You will play a pivotal role in developing a cognitive platform for surgical navigation and in vivo, in situ tissue characterisation during neurosurgery. This platform will enable accurate and highly personalised tissue characterisation with the aim of improving both the efficacy and safety of tumour resections. To this effect, the project focuses on the integration of the following elements:

• Computer Vision and Artificial Intelligence (AI) for intraoperative surgical navigation and Augmented Reality visualisation during robotic-assisted cancer resection;
• Machine Learning (ML) for multimodal tissue characterisation fusing cellular tissue morphology with molecular information for computer-assisted diagnosis and decision making;
• Functional intraoperative tissue assessment to localise functional cortical areas and maximise resection while preserving neurologic function.

Key responsibilities include the development of a platform that integrates signals from multiple imaging and sensing modalities, including video, probe-based Confocal Laser Endomicroscopy, Mass Spectrometry and electrophysiological data and, the use of advanced Machine Learning methodologies for the analysis of the multimodal data.

You will develop Machine Learning methods for computer-assisted diagnosis and brain functionality assessment. You will also assist with the analysis of date and maintain accurate and complete records of all findings.

Essential requirements

We are looking for high calibre applicants with expertise in at least a few from the following areas:

• Programming (C++, Python, etc)
• Machine Learning / AI
• Computer Vision
• Medical Image Analysis

You should hold a PhD (or equivalent) in Visual Computing, Machine Learning, AI, Image Guided Interventions. Prior experience in medical applications and medical data processing will be an advantage.

Further information

This is a full time, fixed term post for 15 months. Research will be carried out at the Hamlyn Centre laboratories in South Kensington.

Candidates who have not yet been officially awarded their PhD will be appointed as a Research Assistant within the salary range £36,694 – £39,888 per annum.

The College is a proud signatory to the San-Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), which means that in hiring and promotion decisions, we evaluate applicants on the quality of their work, not the journal impact factor where it is published. For more information, see https://www.imperial.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/about-imperial-research/research-evaluation/

The College believes that the use of animals in research is vital to improve human and animal health and welfare. Animals may only be used in research programmes where their use is shown to be necessary for developing new treatments and making medical advances. Imperial is committed to ensuring that, in cases where this research is deemed essential, all animals in the College’s care are treated with full respect, and that all staff involved with this work show due consideration at every level. http://www.imperial.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/about-imperial-research/research-integrity/animal-research/ 

Documents

• Research Associate – Job Description.pdf

About Imperial College London

Imperial College London is the UK’s only university focussed entirely on science, engineering, medicine and business and we are consistently rated in the top 10 universities in the world.

You will find our main London campus in South Kensington, with our hospital campuses located nearby in West and North London. We also have Silwood Park in Berkshire and state-of-the-art facilities in development at our major new campus in White City.

We work in a multidisciplinary and diverse community for education, research, translation and commercialisation, harnessing science and innovation to tackle the big global challenges our complex world faces.

It’s our mission to achieve enduring excellence in all that we do for the benefit of society – and we are looking for the most talented people to help us get there.

Additional information

Please note that job descriptions cannot be exhaustive, and the post-holder may be required to undertake other duties, which are broadly in line with the above key responsibilities.

Imperial College is committed to equality of opportunity and to eliminating discrimination. All employees are expected to follow the Imperial Values & Behaviours framework. Our values are: 

• Respect              
• Collaboration
• Excellence          
• Integrity
• Innovation

In addition to the above, employees are required to observe and comply with all College policies and regulations.

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.

For technical issues when applying online please email support.jobs@imperial.ac.uk.

Please click here to apply.