Senior Research Associate in Machine Learning for Medical Imaging and Molecular Prediction

University of Bristol - Faculty of Health and Life Sciences

Location:	Bristol, Hybrid
Salary:	£43,482 to £50,253 per annum
Hours:	Full Time
Contract Type:	Fixed-Term/Contract

Placed On: 19th December 2025
Closes: 4th January 2026

Work Hours: 35.0 Hours per Week

The role

We are seeking a talented and enthusiastic postdoctoral (or working towards a PhD) scientist with experience and a track record in machine learning, particularly for applications of deep learning for medical imaging and/or molecular biomarker development, for a maternity cover role.

The successful applicant will join our world-leading and highly collaborative multi-disciplinary team of cancer population research scientists at the University of Bristol, based within our Cancer Research UK-funded Obesity-related Cancer Epidemiology Programme (OCEP). Our previously CRUK-funded programmes (2015 – 2025) substantially increased understanding of obesity’s importance in cancer aetiology, identifying complex links between the anatomical distribution of adipose tissue, metabolic dysfunction, and cancer risk. We demonstrated an urgent need to go ‘beyond BMI’ to investigate how unhealthy adipose distribution and its metabolic sequelae increase risk of obesity-related cancers and develop intervention strategies that target those mechanisms.

Hybrid working is available, ideally with at least one day per week on campus; however, this is negotiable.

What will you be doing?

This role will be based within Work Package 2, ‘Risk stratification’, and will develop multi-omic models of obesity-related cancer risk from molecular models of cancer-related risk factors including imaging-derived adiposity traits. Risk models will be evaluated for their capacity to inform targeted interventions.

You should apply if

you have:

• Understanding of molecular epidemiological concepts and population health science
• Detailed knowledge of population-based statistical methods to analyse large, multidimensional datasets
• Expertise in the use of machine learning methods for deriving and evaluating predictive models from large datasets, including using deep learning models for extracting features from medical imaging
• Experience accessing and analysing large datasets within high-performance computing and/or cloud compute environments
• Strong track record of academic publications
• Experience of collaborating and corresponding with multiple studies

Additional information

Contract type: Fixed Term (mat cover) between 01/02/2026 -31/08/2026 or earlier return of the postholder from maternity leave

Work pattern: Full-time/ 1 FTE

Grade: J / Pathway 2

Salary: £43,482 - £50,253 per annum

School/Unit: Bristol Medical School

Shift pattern: 35 hours per week

This advert will close at 23:59 UK time on 04/01/2026

For informal queries please contact: Dr Paul Yousefi paul.yousefi@bristol.ac.uk (Senior Research Fellow)