Two Data Science Postdoctoral Researchers (RE2) in Inclusive Artificial Intelligence for Accessible Medical Imaging Across Resource-Limited Settings

The Universitat de Barcelona is offering two exciting postdoctoral positions at the University of Barcelona, within the Artificial Intelligence in Medicine lab.
The selected researchers will focus on the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions to provide access to antenatal screenings in developing countries, where access to data and specialists is often not possible. Moreover, integrative-adaptive learning methods will be implemented, to train inclusive AI algorithms, by combining big data from existing repositories with small-size imaging studies from low-resource settings.

These positions offer the opportunity to take part in the emerging fields of both AI and medical imaging, by being part of AIMIX, which is an ERC-funded project.

We offer:

• A research position in beautiful Barcelona and its Mediterranean climate.
• Research experience within a prestigious university (1st position in Spain).
• Cutting‐edge research in AI for healthcare in one of the most dynamic research groups in Europe (12 active projects including an ERC grant).
• An international research environment by joining a multi‐cultural team representing all continents.
• Opportunities to collaborate with international and interdisciplinary collaborators as part of the European projects.
• Support in career development (e.g. grant applications, supervision of PhD students).
• Travelling opportunities to scientific events, project meetings and international stays.
• Freedom to independently conduct research and contribute with own ideas. Flexible working hours, with possibility to telework.
• Competitive salary equivalent to Assistant or Associate Professor at the University of Barcelona, depending on experience.
• Contract duration until the end of the projects with the possibility to extend the contract as part of other grants within the lab.

We are thus seeking candidates with a PhD degree and expertise in an area pertinent to the project and experience in:

• Machine/deep learning algorithms
• Biomedical informatics
• Computer Science
• Expertise on the implementation and deployment of Machine Learning application programming interfaces (APIs) as part of user interfaces for medical image analysis
• Digital health and/or programming
• Excellent programming skills in Python and/or C++.
• Proficient English, both oral and written.
• Enthusiasm about research and medical applications of AI.
• Aptitude to work independently, lead project deliverables and meet deadlines.
• Good team spirit and participation to the lab’s scientific life.
• Aptitude to collaborate with local and international project partners (including technical and clinical collaborators).

Furthermore, knowledge in any of the following areas are desirable (but optional):

• Probability and statistics.
• Mathematics and/or applied mathematics.
• Bias detection and correction.
• Transfer learning and domain adaptation.
• Uncertainty estimation.
• Federated learning.
• Bioinformatics and/or Biomedical informatics.
• Biomedical engineering.
• Personalised and/or precision medicine.
• Digital health.

The research projects:

The succesful candidate will join our AI for maternal health team, as part of the ongoing project
AIMIX, funded by the European Commission. The AIMIX project we will develop an inclusive AI framework that will leverage and combine existing high-quality ultrasound clinical samples that can be obtained from standard ultrasound machines, with new low-cost ultrasound datasets that can be affordably used in resource-limited healthcare centres. To this end, the project will generate the first scan-rescan, multi-centre and multi-device database for building deep neural networks from both high-end and low-cost ultrasound images.

The group:

The successful candidates will join the Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Lab, which is an integral part of the University of Barcelona’s Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science. It is a young and dynamic research lab, highly active in international projects, and composed of >25 enthusiastic academics, researchers, students and research managers, with expertise in data science, machine/deep learning, biomedical informatics, trustworthy AI, and health‐related applications. The research group has an established track record in coordination and participation in European and international projects (> 10 million Euros over the last 5 years) in biomedical data science and medical AI (e.g. EuCanImage, euCanSHare, EarlyCause, LongITools, HealthyCloud, RadioVal, DataTools4Heart, Youth‐GEMs, HappyMums, AI4HF).

The institution:

The University of Barcelona (UB), founded in 1450, is one of the oldest universities in Spain. It comprises a student body of 84,370 and 4,548 research staff members. With 73 undergraduate programs, 273 graduate programs and 48 doctorate programs, UB is the largest university in Barcelona and Catalonia. The UB is ranked the first Spanish university according to several rankings (QS World University Rankings 2022, Shanghai Ranking 2022). It is particularly interested in fostering international relations and, for many years, has managed an average of 150 European projects per year. The University of Barcelona is part of the prestigious League of European Universities Research (LERU).

Gross salary per year: 40.000 €.