Within the Nutrition and Metabolism Branch (NME), the Biostatistics and Data Integration Team (BDI) aims to develop and apply modern statistical tools to study the role of anthropometry, lifestyle and metabolic dysfunction on cancer risk, and to understand the biological mechanisms that underlie these processes. These objectives are achieved through access to world-leading epidemiological resources, such as the EPIC study and the UK Biobank, and collaborations with international genetics consortia.
A postdoctoral opportunity is immediately available within the BDI team to contribute tothe DISCERN project - “Discovering the causes of three poorly understood cancers in Europe” – newly funded by the European Commission. Within WP5 “Machine Learning and data analytics”, the successful candidate will develop and apply supervised and unsupervised learning methods for the integration of multiple omics data sources to explore the role of known and novel risk factors, and the underlying biological mechanisms, for colorectal, pancreatic and renal cancer.
The successful candidate will be supervised by Dr. Vivian Viallon and Dr. Pietro Ferrari (coleaders of the BDI team). Essential or desired selection criteria include:
- A PhD with appropriate training in statistics, biostatistics, machine learning, or related fields.
- Strong background in R and/or Python.
- Proficiency in English (oral and written).
- Strong communication skills.
- Scientific writing skills.
- Experience with cancer epidemiology, with the analysis and/or pre-processing of omics data, and with federated learning.
The postdoctoral scientists will undertake activities in an innovative and scientifically stimulating environment and will have opportunities to interact and collaborate with colleagues from IARC and its worldwide networks. The postdoctoral opportunity is initially for one year with possibility of renewal for additional years subject to funding availability and performance. The IARC postdoctoral stipend is €2950 per month (net).
The cost of travel for the postdoctoral scientist, and in certain circumstances for dependents, will be met.
Dependence and health insurance allowances will be paid, if applicable. Applications from nationals from low and middle income countries are particularly encouraged. Postdoctoral scientists at IARC have access to a wide spectrum of scientific disciplines and to a unique network of collaborators across the world. IARC welcomes approximately 40 postdoctoral scientists, at any one time, distributed across its research branches. For more information about postdoctoral stays at IARC, please read the Postdoctoral charter here.
Interested candidates are invited to contact Dr. Vivian Viallon (viallonv@iarc.who.int) for informal enquiries. Applicants should send a CV, including list of publications and a description of previous research experience, a motivation letter and the names and addresses of two academic referees, to viallonv@iarc.who.int
Closing date: Applications will be accepted until 28 February 2023 at the latest, but we recommend applying immediately as the position is likely to be filled before that date.
