Research Associate in Wearable Technology

About the role

The Diabetes Research Centre and NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre are looking to recruit a talented, motivated individual with expertise in using wearable technology to measure 24-hour lifestyle behaviours to join an established, successful research team and contribute to a programme of work investigating the role of lifestyle behaviours
, alone or in combination with other clinical management strategies (e.g. pharmacotherapy, physical activity, bariatric/metabolic surgery) in promoting whole-body health in diverse populations with or at risk of chronic cardiometabolic conditions (e.g. obesity, type 2 diabetes etc.).

The appointed individual will join the Leicester Lifestyle and Health Research Group, as part of the Lifestyle Theme of the prestigious NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC). Working closely with senior academics, they will work across a variety of projects, many in a lead capacity, to advance their independent research career
. This will include performing data processing and statistical analysis
, drafting outputs for dissemination, and contributing to protocol design and funding applications for future research.

They will also work across our portfolio of trials, taking a lead in overseeing those involving device-measured 24-hour lifestyle behaviours (e.g. sleep, sedentary behaviour, physical activity and exercise). In particular, they will play a lead role in coordinating the set-up and data collection within research trials using accelerometers (locally and at external sites where appropriate), either independently or through supervision/guidance of other staff or students.

They will be based at the Leicester Diabetes Centre (Leicester General Hospital), which is internationally recognised for its research in diabetes, obesity, and lifestyle behaviours, including within the most recent results of the Research Excellence Framework (2021), where University of Leicester was ranked 2nd in both Sports Science and Clinical Medicine (out of 31 and 61 institutions respectively ().The Leicester Diabetes Centre also hosts the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) East Midlands, the NIHR Patient Recruitment Centre:
Leicester, and the Centre for Ethnic Health Research.

The post provides an excellent opportunity for an ambitious researcher to work within a novel priority area
, and contribute to the ongoing development of our Research Centre alongside advancing their independent research career.

As a Research Associate, you will have a PhD in a relevant discipline alongside evidence of contributing independently to experimental or translational research studies and peer-reviewed journal publications. You will have strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities, and excellent written and oral communication skills, with an ability to work both independently and as part of a multidisciplinary research team.