Research Assistant

University of British Columbia • Vancouver, BC

1d • Onsite

About The Position

A position with the Department of Medicine at the University of British Columbia is open for a Research Assistant within the MS MRI Research Group. The Research Assistant will work closely with faculty and staff and will mainly be responsible for developing new MRI analysis techniques and pipelines. They will design novel research experiments, design and execute data analysis pipelines and interpret results. As well, they will share analysis techniques with collaborators both internally and externally, and supervise research projects for students.

Requirements

• University degree in relevant discipline or completion of a technical program and a minimum five years of related experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one’s own
• Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one’s own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion

Nice To Haves

• Completion of a relevant technical program or a university degree (graduate degree preferred), in a relevant discipline and a minimum five years of related experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Previous experience in standard neuropsychological testing, clinical data collection and management, medical terminology, MRI acquisition, analysis and interpretation are required.
• Excellent interpersonal, oral, and written communication, organization, and problem-solving skills.
• Converses with, writes reports for, and creates/delivers presentations to all levels of colleagues and peer groups in ways that support problem solving and planning.
• Ability to effectively manage multiple tasks and priorities and work in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to maintain accuracy and attention to detail and to work effectively under pressure to meet deadlines.
• Provides regular feedback and suggest alternative approaches necessary to ensure that project objectives and standards are achieved.
• Ability to work effectively independently and with cross-functional teams.
• Ability to exercise tact, discretion, and diplomacy.

Responsibilities

• Develop new specialized techniques for processing and analysis of MRI data and work to make them available and used extensively within UBC, nationally, and internationally
• Work independently on design, analysis, and interpretation of experiments
• Develop and conducts data analysis using MATLAB, python, and MRI analysis packages such as FSL, freesurfer, spinal cord toolbox.
• Utilize tools and procedures for operating the ultra-low field MRI scanner.
• Apply advanced imaging techniques and ensure accurate processing of MRI data.
• Leads design of analysis approach, data analysis, interpretation of data, and reporting (writing abstracts and manuscripts) for analysis of radiologically isolated syndrome cohort of CanProCo, and autoimmune encephalitis cohort of LOBSTR (Longitudinal Observation or Brain and Spinal cord T2 Relaxation).
• Responsible for innovative ideas and directions on a variety of MSMRI projects such as novel approaches to combining multi-modal data, applying machine learning to analysis tasks, and implementing innovative statistical approaches to extracting findings from large scale datasets.
• Responsible for playing a significant role in setting up a project in translational medicine (GAMBIT - Global Assessment of MS with Blood and Imaging Tests)
• Collaborates closely with cross-functional teams to support research projects and initiatives that leverage advanced techniques.
• Facilitates with researchers and staff scientists as required, including conducting research analysis meetings within the DMCBH to instruct on MRI analysis, provide advice to colleagues on how to best align research techniques with their research questions and clinical objectives, and develop and/or provide training resources for analysis tools and techniques.
• Supervises and trains junior team members on use of data analysis tools, conducting and scoring cognitive testing, interpretation of data and results.
• Contributes and writes abstracts and papers for peer review; as well contributes to grant and ethics applications.
• Reviews papers and protocols and provides expert feedback for translational MRI projects
• Attend research meetings to keep abreast of the projects in which other lab members are involved, as well as updates the team on the status of the incumbent’s own work, including weekly team meetings, and seminar series (MRI physics, MS Connect, DMCBH neuroscience rounds, etc.).
• Provide consultation to PIs in other institutions in experimental design and troubleshooting research experiments, especially those including myelin water imaging or ultra-low field MRI.
• Directly contribute substantial intellectual input into grant applications, project planning, analysis implementation, data interpretation and reporting of results.
• Performs other related duties as required.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level