An exciting opportunity has arisen to work on a new project funding by NASS, the National Ankylosing Spondyloarthritis Society. The project intends to both assess the impact of rehabilitative interventions on the natural history of ankylosing spondyloarthritis and to create a new digital database of patient records spanning over 30 years.

The natural history of AS is a difficult area to study due to the heterogeneity of the disease with regard to the severity of symptoms and radiographic progression, and because of the slow speed of progression. As a result, it is difficult to determine the true benefits of rehabilitative interventions and biologic treatments.

The RNHRD has records of ~1000 patients, covering 30 years, which offers an exceptional opportunity to develop our understanding of the condition. As much as possible of this data will be digitised and stored in a format allowing it to be effectively utilised. This database will enable us to better understand AS, predict biological and social outcomes, and to determine the true benefits of treatments and interventions so as to balance them against human and financial costs.

Working within a cross disciplinary team of computer scientists, health scientists and clinical experts the candidate will work across the University of Bath Centre for the Analysis of Motion, Entertainment Research and Applications (CAMERA) and the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases (RNHRD) through the Bath Spondyloarthritis Research Consortium (SPARC) group.

Interfacing with team members drawn from across the Departments for Health and Computer Science this provides an exciting opportunity for skills growth and training in modern applied health research. The candidate will also be required to work closely with staff at the RNHRD and will gain insight into how research links with healthcare provision.

This role is full time (36.5 hours per week) and is being offered on a fixed term contract basis with an anticipated expiry date of 31 July 2019.To arrange an informal discussion about this role, please contact Mr Matthew Young via e-mail [email protected]

Full job description, person specification, and application form can be found here.