Job Description

Grade UE07: 40,497 - 48,149 per annum

CMVM / MGPHS / USHER Institute / Edinburgh Bioquarter

Full-time: 35 hours per week

Fixed-term: for 24 months (with possibility of extension)

We will consider requests for hybrid working (on a non-contractual basis) that combines a mix of remote and regular (weekly) on-campus working. We would expect a minimum of 60% on campus working.





The Centre for Population Health Sciences at the Usher Institute within The University of Edinburgh is looking for a skilled biostatistician, informatician or data scientist to join our team and work on a project to identify biomarkers of response to treatment in people with rheumatoid arthritis, and to stratify the disease, using novel methods for analysing complex high-dimensional genetic, transcriptomic and proteomic data linked to health outcomes from large biobanks and smaller clinical cohorts.

The Opportunity:

We have recently developed a new method of statistical analysis for the problem of finding the key genes for disease, with exciting pilot results and promising drug targets for rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune conditions. The post holder will play a pivotal role in helping us further develop this method and take genetic discoveries forward to inform biomarker identification and validation for predicting progression and response to treatment in people with rheumatoid arthritis using available and newly generated transcriptomic and proteomic data.


This post is an important component of the work programme in Dr Spiliopoulou's career development fellowship funded by Versus Arthritis and aiming to develop a precision medicine approach for rheumatoid arthritis. The post holder will work closely with Dr Athina Spiliopoulou, Prof Paul McKeigue, and Dr Andrii Iakovliev, and with postdoctoral researchers and students in our team. They will also interact and collaborate with academic, clinical and industry contacts from existing collaborations, including the prediction of response to treatment in rheumatoid arthritis, and with colleagues at the Diabetes Medical Informatics and Epidemiology research group at the Institute of Genetics and Cancer.

Informal enquiries may be directed to Dr Athina Spiliopoulou (A.Spiliopoulou@ed.ac.uk).

Your skills and attributes for success:

PhD in machine learning, genetic epidemiology or a numerate discipline OR equivalent experience. Broad knowledge of probabilistic models, Bayesian inference and machine learning methods. Good knowledge of R, Python or both (links to project source code are encouraged as part of the application). Experience working with Unix-based operating systems, and tools for reproducible research (e.g. GitHub, Rmarkdown). Good communication skills and ability to work within a team. Ability to manage time and work plans to achieve the objectives of a project.

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Application Information

Please include your CV and a supporting statement with details of how you meet the knowledge, skills and experience required for this post.


Non-University of Edinburgh employees (i.e. external applicants) - please refer to the How to Apply - External Candidate system user guide.


Current University of Edinburgh employees (i.e. internal applicants) interested in applying for this role - you must apply as an internal applicant through the People and Money Current Jobs tile. Please refer to the How to Apply - UoE Employee system user guide.

As a valued member of our team you can expect:

A competitive salary. An exciting, positive, creative, challenging and rewarding place to work. To be part of a diverse and vibrant international community. Comprehensive Staff Benefits, such as a generous holiday entitlement, competitive pension schemes, staff discounts, and family-friendly initiatives. Check out the full list on our

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Championing equality, diversity and inclusion

The University of Edinburgh holds a Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advance gender equality in higher education. We are members of the Race Equality Charter and we are also Stonewall Scotland Diversity Champions, actively promoting LGBT equality.



Prior to any employment commencing with the University you will be required to evidence your right to work in the UK. Further information is available on our

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On this occasion the University will not consider applicants requiring sponsorship for this role. International workers will therefore only be able to take up this role if they can demonstrate an alternative right to work in the UK.

Key dates to note

The closing date for applications is

1st July 2025.

Unless stated otherwise the closing time for applications is 11:59pm GMT. If you are applying outside the UK the closing time on our adverts automatically adjusts to your browsers local time zone.

Work with us | Usher Institute

- where inquiring minds work together to improve lives across the world.


Join our growing team of academics and professional services staff and work in a vibrant, multi-disciplinary environment. Our vision is to catalyse the transformation of health in society by working with people, populations and their data.


Our greatest asset is our people, working together to improve public health using evidence-based research.


We are a key applied and translational arm of the Edinburgh Medical School, within the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine at The University of Edinburgh. Working with partners across UK and international universities, health and care providers, policymakers, industry and the public is central to our highly collaborative ethos.