Research Fellow / Biomedical Engineer Full-time NEW

Research Fellow / Biomedical Engineer

UCL's Institute of Cardiovascular Science is based at Torrington Place, London. Our overall mission is to improve the lives, health and wellbeing through world-class patient centred research, education and public engagement. As a world-class centre of excellence, UCL ICS is focussed on developing novel preventative and therapeutic strategies in cardiovascular medicine. Studies will focus on the effects of mental stress and also neuromodulation devices -primarily Tragus nerve stimulation which is being used to treat heart rhythm disorders and heart failure and the development of new technology (OP-MEG) to image the heart and brain together. This post is funded through a British Heart Foundation (BHF) programme grant, Targeting the Heart-Brain Neuroaxis for the Treatment of Cardiac Arrhythmias, which will establish a new Neurocardiology Centre at University College London. The programme integrates advanced cardiac electrophysiology, neuroimaging and neuromodulation to investigate bidirectional interactions between the heart and brain and to develop novel therapeutic strategies for arrhythmias.

About the Role

We are recruiting a postdoctoral research fellow with a PhD in biomedical engineering, cognitive neuroscience or a related discipline. This post will support the development and implementation of simultaneous heart-brain imaging studies using Optically Pumped Magnetoencephalography (OP-MEG) and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) in human subjects involving mental stress and tragus nerve stimulation. This post will be funded for 12 months in the first instance.

About You

The postholder will lead methodological development and experimental implementation of simultaneous heart-brain imaging using OP-MEG and fMRI, with a particular focus on modelling afferent-efferent dynamics and neuromodulatory interventions such as low-level transcutaneous tragus nerve stimulation (LLTS) and mental stress paradigms. Experiments will be conducted in human subjects, including healthy participants and patients with cardiac arrhythmias. Development and optimisation of OP-MEG methods for simultaneous cardiac–brain imaging, and application of OP-MEG and fMRI to investigate bidirectional heart–brain dynamics in healthy participants and arrhythmia patients. This will include experimental data analysis, optimsation of data collection, protocol design and practical assistance during the ECGI and MRI experiments. Experiments will primarily take place at Chenies Mews, UCL and the Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, Queen Square.

What We Offer

As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer some great benefits some of which are below: 41 Days holiday (27 days annual leave 8 bank holiday and 6 closure days) Additional 5 days' annual leave purchase scheme Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE) Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan Immigration loan Relocation scheme for certain posts On-Site nursery On-site gym Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service Discounted medical insurance Visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/reward-and-benefits to find out more.

Our Commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

As London's Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world's talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL's workforce. These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; LGBTQI+ people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women. You can read more about our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/equality-diversity-inclusion/