PDRA in MRI for Diabetes assessment

Overview

We are seeking an enthusiastic Research Associate (Research Associate 2) to join the Medical Imaging Team in the Division of Clinical Medicine and the INSIGNEO Institute for in silico medicine at the University of Sheffield. This 42-month position is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) as part of the pioneering project "Vascular Computational Modelling in Chronic Kidney Disease (VASCO-CKD)".

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) affects ~10% of the global population and is most often caused by diabetes and hypertension. The VASCO-CKD project will develop a non-invasive means of differentiating these two causes, which would offer significant opportunities to improve patient outcomes by tailored management. Our approach builds on a combination of comprehensive computational modelling of the cardiovascular system, informed by extensive blood flow measurements using phase-contrast MRI in patients and healthy controls.

As the successful candidate, you will lead the core MRI activities within Work Package 2 (WP2), under the direct supervision of Prof Steven Sourbron. You will work closely with an interdisciplinary team, including an engineering Research Associate focused on model development (WP1), alongside clinicians, engineers and established public and clinical stakeholder networks (WP3).

You will be embedded within the INSIGNEO Institute, Europe's largest in silico medicine institute, providing a world-class, multidisciplinary ecosystem of over 400 clinical and engineering researchers. This role provides an outstanding opportunity to leverage your MRI skills to make a real-world clinical impact on personalised medicine.

Main duties and responsibilities

The postholder will lead the MRI protocol development and clinical studies within Work Package 2 (WP2). Key duties include:

• Retrospectively analyse the renal phase contrast data from our EU-funded internation study iBEAt on diabetic kidney disease which includes data from over 500 patients with 4-year follow-up.
• Set up a novel extensive phase-contrast based MRI protocol on our GE scanners to measure renal blood flow and velocity at various points in the arterial trea, with an extra focus on renal vessels.
• Develop an integrated database and analysis pipeline for retrospective and prospective data.
• Set up and run a clinical study in 80 patients and healthy controls to provide extensive measurements that can inform the model development.
• Work with Research Associate 1 to apply the newly developed model directly to the data and use it to measure hidden model parameters.
• Support Research Associate 1 in the validation of the computational model, generation of virtual populations and development of in-silico clinical trials based..
• Package data, analysis pipelines, and documented models into a clean, open-access public repository hosted via GitHub and Zenodo under open Apache 2.0 and CC-BY 4.0 licensing.
• Maintain highly effective working relationships across the interdisciplinary team, presenting key milestones at monthly alignment meetings and international conferences.
• Carry out other duties, commensurate with the grade and remit of the post.

Person Specification

Our diverse community of staff and students recognises the unique abilities, backgrounds, and beliefs of all. We foster a culture where everyone feels they belong and is respected. Even if your past experience doesn't match perfectly with this role's criteria, your contribution is valuable, and we encourage you to apply. Please ensure that you reference the application criteria in the application statement when you apply.

Criteria	Essential or desirable	Stage(s) assessed at
A PhD (or near completion/equivalent experience) in Physics, Engineering, Applied Mathematics, Computational Biomedical Imaging, or a related highly quantitative field.	Essential	Application
Documented experience in MRI sequence development and sequence programming.	Essential	Application/Interview
Strong background in MRI physics and processing and modelling of MRI data.	Essential	Application/Interview
Experience with open-source software codebases, version control (e.g., GitHub), and open-science data sharing standards.	Essential	Application
Effective communication and interpersonal skills, with a proven ability to collaborate in multi-disciplinary research environments.	Essential	Application/Interview
A track record of authoring high-quality peer-reviewed scientific publications or technical project reports.	Essential	Application
Experience in setting up and analysing phase contrast MRI data	Desirable	Application/Interview
Experience with sequence development on GE scanners.	Desirable	Application/Interview

Further Information

Grade	Grade 7.3 - 7.6
Salary	£38,784 - £42,254
Work arrangement	Full-time
Duration	Fixed-term for 42 months
Line manager	Professor in Medical Imaging Physics (Prof. Steven Sourbron)
Direct reports	Professor in Medical Imaging Physics (Prof. Steven Sourbron)
Right to work in the UK	If you do not currently hold the right to work in the UK, you can find more information here to help determine your visa eligibility. Additional guidance is also available on the UK Visa & Immigration website.
Our websites	www.miblab.org https://sheffield.ac.uk/smph/research/themes/imaging
For informal enquiries about this job contact Prof. Steven Sourbron, Professor in Medical Imaging Physics: on s.sourbron@sheffield.ac.uk

Next steps in the recruitment process

It is anticipated that the selection process will take place on a date to be confirmed following shortlisting. This will consist of a formal panel interview and a technical presentation outlining your previous computational modeling work. We plan to let candidates know if they have progressed to the selection stage shortly after the closing date. If you need any support, equipment or adjustments to enable you to participate in any element of the recruitment process you can contact the HR recruitment team.

Our vision and strategic plan

We are the University of Sheffield. This is our vision: sheffield.ac.uk/vision (opens in new window).

What we offer

• A minimum of 41 days annual leave including bank holiday and closure days (pro rata) with the ability to purchase more.
• Flexible working opportunities, including hybrid working for some roles.
• Generous pension scheme.
• A wide range of discounts and rewards on shopping, eating out and travel.
• A variety of staff networks, providing opportunities for social interaction, peer support and personal development (for example, Race Equality, LGBT+, Women's and Parent's networks).
• Recognition Awards to reward staff who go above and beyond in their role.
• A commitment to your development access to learning and mentoring schemes; integrated with our Academic Career Pathways and the INSIGNEO Training Academy.
• A range of generous family-friendly policies
  • paid time off for parenting and caring emergencies
  • access to menopause support in the workplace
  • paid time off and support for fertility treatment
  • and more

More details can be found on our benefits page: sheffield.ac.uk/jobs/benefits (opens in a new window).

We are a Disability Confident Leader (opens in a new window). If you have a disability and meet the essential criteria for this job you will be invited to take part in the next stage of the selection process.

Closing Date : 09/11/2026

We are a research university with a global reputation for excellence. Our ideas and expertise change the world for the better, making a real difference to society. We know that when people come together with different views, approaches and insights it can lead to richer, more creative and innovative teaching and research and the highest levels of student experience. Our University Vision (www.sheffield.ac.uk/vision) outlines our commitment to building a diverse community of staff and students that recognises and values the abilities, backgrounds, beliefs and ways of living for everyone.

The University of Sheffield is a remarkable place to work. Our people are at the heart of everything we do. Their diverse backgrounds, abilities and beliefs make Sheffield a world-class university.

We offer a fantastic range of benefits including a highly competitive annual leave entitlement (with the ability to purchase more), a generous pensions scheme, flexible working opportunities, a commitment to your development and wellbeing, a wide range of retail discounts, and much more. Find out more about our benefits (opens in a new window) and join us to become part of something special.