Postdoc in Statistical Genetics, King’s College London

Postdoc in Statistical Genetics at King’s College London

Please see below an exciting postdoc statistical genetics job opportunity with Marta di Forti working on genetic and epigenetic studies to dissect the role cannabis plays in psychosis.
Research Associate in Denmark Hill Campus | Research at King’s College London

The role is based at the SGDP Centre, Denmark Hill, King’s College London, and Marta (marta.diforti@kcl.ac.uk) would be happy to answer any questions you have.

Best wishes,
Cathryn
——
Cathryn Lewis
Professor of Genetic Epidemiology and Statistics
Head of Department, Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre; Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience
& Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics; Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine
King’s College London

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Research Associate
Job ID: 012964
Salary: Grade 6: £38,304 – £39,345 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance Posted: 13-Jan-2021
Closing date: 31-Jan-2021
Business unit: IoPPN
Department: Social, Genetic & Dev Psychiatry
Contact details: Dr Marta Di Forti , marta.diforti@kcl.ac.uk
Denmark Hill Campus Research
https://jobs.kcl.ac.uk/gb/en/job/012964/Research-Associate

Job description
We are seeking a highly skilled postdoctoral researcher in statistical genetics to undertake applied and methodological research in cross disorder pathway analyses for psychiatric disorders.

The postholder will lead the genetic and epigenetic analyses as part of a five year MRC Senior Clinical Fellowship (SCF) project titled, Pathways to Psychosis among Cannabis Users, awarded to Dr Marta Di Forti.

The postdoctoral researcher will build genetic pathway scores from genome-wide association studies in Cannabis Use Disorder (CUD) and Psychotic Disorders, using existing software, and with the scope to develop novel methodology in this area. In parallel, he/she will perform epigenetics studies, analysing genome-wide DNA methylation data from CUD samples. The genetic pathway scores and the EWAS data will be combined to test for prediction of CUD and Psychotic Disorder case-control status in independent datasets, such as UK Biobank.
This novel work offers the unique opportunity to analyse multidimensional biological and clinical data for prediction modelling, to increase our understanding of the role of cannabis in psychosis.

This role will be held at the SGDP Centre, and the postholder will work closely with researchers in the Statistical Genetics Unit, led by Professor Cathryn Lewis. The research studies will be carried out in close collaboration with world leading experts including Professor Jon Mill, Dr Emma Dempster (Exeter), Dr Chloe Wong (SGDP Centre), Professor Pak Sham (Hong Kong University) and Professor Mick O’Donovan (Cardiff).
This post offers a postdoctoral researcher a unique opportunity to develop their skills in this fast-moving field in a thriving and supportive multi-disciplinary research environment. The diverse collaborations developed by Dr Di Forti for her MRC fellowship will enable the postdoctoral researcher to develop their career, playing an active role in data dissemination and publications.

This is a full-time post and will be offered on a fixed-term contract for 36 months.