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Post Doctoral Research Assisstant

Employer
KINGS COLLEGE LONDON
Location
London (Central), London (Greater) (GB)
Salary
£39,882 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance
Closing date
9 Apr 2023

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Academic Discipline
Clinical, Pre-clinical & Health
Job Type
Research Related
Contract Type
Fixed Term
Hours
Full Time

Job Details

Job description

Facial disfigurement due to hard and soft tissue loss can have a major impact on people’s social interaction  and quality of life. Facial prostheses are needed when patients are treated for certain cancers, congenital deformities and trauma perhaps relating to accidental injuries affecting for example the nose, lip, eyes, ears or skin or a combination of these depending upon the size of the facial difference. Current methods of rehabilitation rely on custom-made individual facial prostheses. These current methods of manual crafting by maxillofacial specialists are time consuming and difficult to meet patient expectations.  

 

The overall purpose of this research work is to provide support for realising Advanced Additive Manufacturing of User-Focused Facial Prostheses with Real-Life Colour Reproduction. KCL component of the grant is related to developing base line life like skin characteristics of facial skin populations using polymeric materials such as silicone elastomers that are suitable for 3D printing. Both spatial and spectral face data are needed to capture reflective properties, texture and translucency under pose and illumination. This will require the applicant to be conversant with surface imaging techniques and spectrophotometry to capture facial skin data. 

This PDRA post is part of a multicentre EPSRC programme grant working with 4 other Universities and the applicant will be expected to work closely with the PDRA’s within the other University teams.  

 

The focus of the Academic Centre of Reconstruction research is to rebuild faces using innovative prostheses based on novel technologies. Thus our research informs our clinical practice by translation research. The patients rehabilitated include children, young adults with congenital malformations of the face, adults who have treated for oral cancer, and those following trauma to the face and neck or suffering from war wounds. This centre is one of the few working in this field worldwide and has established collaborations with centres in the USA, Canada, India, China and in the middle East. Previous translational research has been adapted for use in the NHS and falls into main areas of interest : 1. Digital Technology, 2. Colour Science. 

 

This post will be offered on an 2 year fixed term role with a possible 3 year extension. 

 

This is a full-time  post

 

Key responsibilities

•       Organizing the collection of surface contour data of various facial profiles.

•       Record different ethnic colour data bases and develop new pigment data bases suitable for dispersing within appropriate polymers suitable for 3D printing of skin colours and matched to various ethnicities.

•       Compare and contrast current standards of colour formulation of various skin ethnicities with newly developed skin colour data bases.

•       Writing documentation for achieving ethical approval

•       Able to work independently, and be open to learn new analytical procedures after suitable training and support from the team

•       Work in an independent manner to attain project goals and solve problems

 

The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.

Skills, knowledge, and experience

Essential criteria

1.       PhD in Dental Materials / Bioengineering or Mechanical Engineering.

2.       Supervisory, planning and organizing skills particularly in relation to experimental design and project management.

3.       Strong analytical skills and problem solving capabilities.

4.       Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, both oral and written.

5.       Well-developed understanding of Health & Safety regulations & procedures and the implication of non-compliance on other staff.

6.       Leadership qualities and ability to work unsupervised, produce own job plans, exercise initiative and self-motivated to further own professional development.

7.       Understanding of and participation in administrative and day-to-day management structures relevant to the laboratory environment.

8.       Excellent organisational and budgetary monitoring skills.

9.       Evidence of ability to engage in high-level research in an interdisciplinary context, with publications commensurate with stage of career

10.   Willingness to network with collaborators on research projects and travel to other sites to conduct research work and meetings.

Desirable criteria

1.       Knowledge of spectrophotometry/ colorimetry

2.       Flexible, cooperative and a willingness to work outside normal hours when required.

3.       Ability to relate to and provide assistance to academics, researchers, students and other technicians when required.

 

Further information

Interview dates between 20th and 24th March 2023

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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