We are hiring a Research Fellow to join an interdisciplinary team of genomic informaticians, clinicians, bioinformaticians, and clinical data scientists working at the forefront of genomic data science for complex heritable conditions, primarily focused on inflammatory bowel disease. The successful candidate will undertake research with the ultimate aim of improving personalised diagnostics through integration of clinical and genomic data. The primary responsibility will be running pipelines for processing of next-generation sequencing data, alongside maintenance of these pipelines. There will be additional work to integrate genomic sequencing and other molecular datasets generated through research studies with high fidelity clinical data. This work includes the application and evaluation of methods for tasks such as data harmonisation, phenotype representation, genomic analysis and patient or gene prioritisation. Working within research high-performance computing (HPC) environments, the Research Fellow will execute defined research workstreams, contribute to analytical strategy, and generate reproducible and clinically meaningful insights from large-scale genomic and health data.

Research: The post holder will process genomic and multiomic data (including quality control, pipeline maintenance, GenePy score generation) to facilitate personalised diagnostics. They will perform and contribute to original methodological and analytical work, execute defined components of collaborative research projects, support the development of generalisable and scalable pipelines. Additional experience of large-scale clinical data and the use of LLMs across multiple data types and sources is desirable. The successful candidate will contribute to publications, collaborative webtools, presentations, and future funding applications are required. They may also provide day-to-day guidance to students with appropriate support and supervision.

Closing Date: 04 Sep 2026

Section: Education, Research & Enterprise

Salary: £36,636 Per annum
Full Time Fixed Term for 6 months

MASLD is a complex multisystem metabolic disease involving pathological cross‑talk between the liver, adipose tissue, gut, and immune system. The MIMIC programme aims to develop human, immunocompetent, patient‑derived multi‑organ models, using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and organ‑on‑chip technologies, to better understand disease mechanisms and accelerate therapeutic discovery. This PDRA post focuses on the development and characterisation of iPSC‑derived adipose tissue models and their integration into multi‑tissue platforms.

The Role

The successful candidate will play a central role in contributing to the generation of biomimetic, immunocompetent adipose tissue constructs derived from human iPSCs. Working closely with stem cell biologists, immunologists, and bioengineers across the MIMIC consortium, the PDRA will:

• Develop and optimise iPSC‑derived adipocyte differentiation protocols 
• Generate 3D adipose tissue organoids incorporating stromal, endothelial, and immune cell populations
• Perform in‑depth molecular, phenotypic and metabolic characterisation of adipose models
• Investigate inflammatory and metabolic dysfunction relevant to MASLD
• Contribute to multi‑organ integration, i.e. adipose–liver–gut cross‑talk 
• Support benchmarking of in‑vitro findings against clinical and patient‑derived data

This role provides an exceptional opportunity to work at the cutting edge of human disease modelling, immunometabolism, and regenerative medicine within a large, well‑funded collaborative programme.

About you

You will hold a PhD/DPhil or equivalent a relevant discipline along with:

• Strong hands‑on experience of stem cell-derived models
• Demonstrated expertise in adipose tissue biology and adipocyte differentiation
• Experience with 3D cell culture, organoid systems, or co‑culture models
• Solid grounding in molecular and cellular biology techniques 
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively within a large interdisciplinary programme

Informal enquiries are welcome and may be directed to: Jaswinder Sethi (j.sethi@soton.ac.uk). Please note that applications sent only to this email address will not be accepted.

What we offer 

• An exciting post within a high‑profile UKRI‑funded research programme
• Access to world‑class facilities and international collaborators
• Strong mentorship and career development, including training and conference support
• Opportunities for collaboration, secondments, and interdisciplinary skills development
• A generous holiday allowance as well as additional university closure days
• A vibrant, inclusive, and supportive research environment

Closing Date: 01 Sep 2026

Section: Education, Research & Enterprise

Salary: £36,636 to £41,064 Per Annum
Full Time Fixed Term for 24 months