Postdoctoral Research Associates in Mathematical Modelling of Chronic Hepatitis B Full-time

Postdoctoral Research Associates in Mathematical Modelling of Chronic Hepatitis B

We invite applications for two Postdoctoral Research Associate posts to work with Professor Helen Byrne at the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford. These are three-year, fixed-term positions, funded by the GSK-Imperial-Oxford Modelling-Informed Medicine Centre (MiMeC). The starting dates of the positions are flexible.

The successful candidates will be members of the Wolfson Centre for Mathematical Biology in the Mathematical Institute. They will be responsible for carrying out research involving mathematical modelling of hepatitis B virus (HBV) as part of the MiMeC chronic hepatitis B research theme. This theme is led by Professors Helen Byrne and Jane McKeating in Oxford in close collaboration with Drs Marissa Renardy and Ahmed Nader at GSK, supported by Professor Philip Maini and Dr Josh Moore (Oxford) and Dr Yaron Ben-Ami, Dr Rajat Desikan and Dr Anna Sher (GSK). The MiMeC HBV theme seeks to understand why patients with chronic hepatitis B respond differently to therapy, and how immune-modulatory treatments can be used to achieve functional cure. The project will integrate clinical, immunological, and spatial molecular data to develop mechanistic models linking liver tissue biology, immune responses, and viral dynamics.

The two researchers will play complementary roles within the programme. One post will focus on the analysis of spatial omics, histological and imaging data, and the development of spatially resolved models (e.g. agent-based, partial differential equation, or hybrid models) of infection, immune responses, and the effect of treatments within the liver. The second post will develop whole-body quantitative systems pharmacology (QSP) models linking intrahepatic processes to peripheral biomarkers and clinical outcomes. The postdocs will work closely together to integrate spatial and QSP modelling frameworks, compare their predictive performance, and evaluate existing and emerging therapeutic strategies.

The project is particularly well suited to researchers with expertise in mathematical modelling, computational biology, scientific computing, machine learning, immunology, or systems pharmacology, and offers the opportunity to contribute to clinically relevant research with the potential to inform personalised HBV therapies. The successful candidates will be expected to conduct research both independently and in collaboration with other members of the group at Oxford, and elsewhere, including Drs Renardy and Nader at GSK. They will also be expected to provide informal mentorship to doctoral students in the group, potentially including informal co-supervision of students working on MiMeC-related projects. In addition, they will work closely with virologists in the McKeating team within the Nuffield Department of Medicine at Oxford.

These positions are ideally suited to researchers with strong modelling and computational skills and offer the opportunity to undertake research with the potential for substantial positive real-world impact. The postdoctoral researchers will contribute to the research and scholarly activities of the Wolfson Centre for Mathematical Biology and will be expected to publish the results of their work in leading peer-reviewed journals. There will also be opportunities to contribute a limited amount of teaching within the department, amounting to at most three hours per week during academic term time.

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