Applications are invited for a Research Scientist to join the group of Dr Traka in the Food Databanks Programme at Quadram Institute Bioscience (QIB), based in Norwich, UK.

Background:

Food Databanks National Capability (FDNC) is the national provider of nutritional food composition data eaten in the UK, which underpin research into diet and health, and the role of diet in shaping human gut microbiome.

We are lead partners in a consortium to develop an EU-wide Food and Nutrition Security (FNS) data cloud (FNS-Cloud) that will connect and FAIRify various types of data for the food, health and microbiome research community (2019-2023). As part of the FNS-Cloud we are undertaking a human dietary intervention study (DIME study), designed to investigate the effects of plant bioactive-rich diets on gut microbiome diversity and on metabolic health markers.

The role:

We are seeking a highly motivated individual to drive all aspects relating to data analyses of the DIME human intervention study by:

1) Extracting DNA from faecal samples and submitting to external providers for DNA sequencing,
2) processing urine and faecal sample for untargeted metabolomics working with our partner lab in Denmark, and undertaking subsequent statistical analyses,
3) undertaking nutritional analysis of dietary arms (nutrients and bioactives), and statistically analyse the effect of diets on a variety of clinical and lifestyle biomarkers (eg blood biochemistry markers, wearables data collected during the intervention, questionnaires on stool frequency, mood and anxiety, etc),
4) liaising with the QIB Biorepository to ensure future sample storage post study end and ensure study data are open through submitting to public repositories, and
5) contributing to the collation and drafting of scientific reports, progress reports, and lead on scientific publications.

The post-holder will have opportunities to undertake (virtual/physical) exchanges with our European partners around food, health and microbiome data.

The ideal candidate:

The ideal candidate will:

• Be proficient in advanced statistical analyses with R environment
• Be proficient in biological human/microbial laboratory techniques, in particular DNA extraction methods
• Have knowledge and experience with handling metabolomics data (including functional interpretation)
• Have experience with public repositories of omics data
• Have a PhD in Biological Sciences, Nutrition or related discipline

Additional information:

Salary on appointment will be within the range £32,578 to £39,938 per annum depending on qualifications and experience.  This is a full-time post for a contract of 12 months.

For further information and details of how to apply, please visit our web site or contact the Human Resources team on 01603 450462 or nbi.recruitment@nbi.ac.uk  quoting reference 1004095.

We are committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sectors of society.  The Institute supports equality of opportunity within the workplace and expects all employees to share and display these values.  To support our commitment, we have a range of family, faith and diversity friendly working arrangements to help all staff achieve excellence in their area of work.

As a Disability Confident employer, we guarantee to offer an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for this vacancy.

About the Quadram Institute:

The Quadram Institute is a new interdisciplinary research institute dedicated to understanding how food and microbes interact to promote health and prevent disease. Its mission is to deliver healthier lives through innovation in gut health, microbiology and food. A partnership between Quadram Institute Bioscience, the University of East Anglia, the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and BBSRC, it brings together scientists and clinicians in a state-of-the-art building on the Norwich Research Park. This is one of Europe’s largest centres of life sciences and home of the John Innes Centre and The Earlham Institute.

The closing date for applications will be 22^nd August 2021.

The Quadram Institute Bioscience is a registered charity (No. 1058499) and is an Equal Opportunities Employer.