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Postdoctoral research associate - RAMP study

Employer
KINGS COLLEGE LONDON
Location
London (Greater) (GB)
Salary
Grade 6: £38,304 - £41,517 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance
Closing date
31 Jan 2021

Job Details

The RAMP study (https://rampstudy.co.uk/) is seeking a Postdoctoral research associate to join our team examining mental health in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The post, a FTE fixed-term contract for 25 months, will specifically examine trajectories of symptoms of anxiety and depression in young people (aged 16-25years), relationships with modifiable risk factors (cognitions and behaviours) and interactions with ongoing experiences of stress.

Stress is a major predictor of depression and anxiety across the lifespan. During the COVID-19 pandemic, young people are likely to be exposed to elevated levels of stress, with heightened uncertainty around exams, jobs and reduced opportunities to interact with peers. However, not everyone who experiences stressors will go on to develop depression or anxiety, with many individuals displaying resilience in the face of stress. This project aims to examine mental health following the COVID-19 pandemic in order to improve understanding of how young people respond to stress, who is at greatest risk of worsening mental health and what approaches can most effectively help young people to cope.

This postdoctoral position will use data currently being acquired as part of the RAMP project and from our sister study which recruits participants from existing research cohorts, such as the ‘Genetic Links to Anxiety and Depression’ (GLAD) study (https://gladstudy.org.uk/). This project will also add long-term follow-up of youth participants currently enrolled in these studies. Group-based trajectory modelling and cross-lagged panel analyses will be used to examine symptom trajectories, predictors and covariates. Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) is central to each aspect of this project and this role will involve participation in regular focus groups, public engagement and dissemination events.

The post will be based at the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry (SGDP, https://www.kcl.ac.uk/psychology-systems-sciences/about/departments/social-genetic-and-developmental-psychiatry) Centre at Denmark Hill. The successful candidate will work closely with the principle investigator Dr Katherine Young and will support a collaboration with the labs of Profs Gerome Breen and Thalia Eley. More broadly, the candidate will benefit from rich interdisciplinary collaborations and networks of academic and clinical research at King’s College London.

The successful candidate must have (or be about to receive) a PhD in psychology, epidemiology, or a related discipline. Candidates should be proficient in the use of statistical analysis software (R, python, STATA or MPlus). Prior experience in longitudinal modelling would be highly desirable. 

Company

King's College London is one of the top 20 universities in the world and among the oldest in England. King's has more than 27,600 students (of whom nearly 10,500 are graduate students) from some 150 countries worldwide, and some 6,800 staff.

King's has an outstanding reputation for world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) King’s was ranked 6th nationally in the ‘power’ ranking, which takes into account both the quality and quantity of research activity, and 7th for quality according to Times Higher Education rankings. Eighty-four per cent of research at King’s was deemed ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ (3* and 4*). The university is in the top seven UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of more than £684 million.

King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, the sciences (including a wide range of health areas such as psychiatry, medicine, nursing and dentistry) and social sciences including international affairs. It has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA and research that led to the development of radio, television, mobile phones and radar.

King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts are part of King's Health Partners. King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC) is a pioneering global collaboration between one of the world's leading research-led universities and three of London's most successful NHS Foundation Trusts, including leading teaching hospitals and comprehensive mental health services. For more information, visit: www.kingshealthpartners.org.

King’s £600 million campaign, World questions|KING’s answers, has delivered huge global impact in areas where King’s has particular expertise. Philanthropic support has funded new research to save young lives at Evelina London Children’s Hospital; established the King’s Dickson Poon School of Law as a worldwide leader in transnational law; built a new Cancer Centre at Guy’s Hospital; allowed unique collaboration between leading neuroscientists to fast-track new treatments for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, motor neurone disease, depression and schizophrenia at the new Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute; created the Cicely Saunders Institute: the first academic institution in the world dedicated to palliative care, and supported the King’s Sierra Leone Partnership in the Ebola crisis. Donations provide over 300 of the most promising students with scholarships and bursaries each year. More information about the campaign is available at www.kcl.ac.uk/kingsanswers.

Company info
Mini-site
KINGS COLLEGE LONDON
Telephone
+(44)02078365454
Location
STRAND
LONDON
WC2R 2LS
United Kingdom

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