Jobs
ASO members can advertise their jobs, PhDs and other opportunities for free on this page and in our monthly e-update. Just get in touch with the ASO Office and let us know the details.
Current opportunities
PhD Study : Lingual anorexigenic hormone administration as a new treatment for obesity
Ulster University
Gut hormones such as PYY and GLP-1, released postprandially mainly by the gut can promote satiation and reduce hunger. While intravenous, oral and injected administration of these hormones have been found to be effective in reducing food intake they have also been found to be poorly tolerated causing nausea and other gastrointestinal issues (vomiting, diarrhoea, etc.). Animal work has shown that lingual hormone administration signals directly to the satiety centres of the brain via the receptors on the tongue (e.g. NPY2R, GLP-1R), thus avoiding stimulation of the nausea centres.
This PhD program builds on on-going work by the research team and aims to investigate the effect of lingual gut hormone administration on food intake.
Essential Criteria - Background in biomedical science, human biology, biochemistry or a related degree.
Closing date: 4:00PM, Tuesday 19 December 2023
Clinical Psychologist (Behavioural Change for Weight Management)
Manual (Menwell Limited)
We are searching for an experienced Health Psychologist or Clinical Psychologist to join our team as the Head of Behavioural Change.
You will be responsible for designing, developing and managing a best in class, evidence based weight loss program, which helps customers lose weight and keep it off for good. You will have an excellent understanding and demonstrable experience working with behavioural change for weight loss and how to deliver this to customers through a combination of digital and coaching support.
You will be the primary clinical owner of Manual’s weight loss proposition and a leading expert voice internally and externally for the company. You will work collaboratively with the team to ensure strong customer outcomes, robust clinical governance, quality standards, and collecting data which evidences our results.
Research Programme Manager
Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences
University of Oxford
The programme will involve work with patients and staff in mental healthcare to adapt the interventions, including using conversation analysis, think-aloud, interviews, and observational methods to understand how the intervention needs adapting and whether adapted interventions meet their goals. Thereafter, the programme will involve using implementation science models to understand the process of role out in routine mental healthcare and understand how the outcomes of the intervention have come to be achieved. The programme manager will oversee this work, working alongside Paul Aveyard to deliver research outputs on time and on budget. You will oversee others employed on the programme, line managing a qualitative researcher and a research assistant, and later managing the work of the clinical trials unit and health economists.
The post is embedded in the thriving Health Behaviours Team, who work on interventions to prevent or treat ill-health by intervening on diet, obesity, and smoking. We have a strong track record of applied research that can benefit patients and lead to changes in the health system and will support team members to be engaged in policy work. We are committed to involving members of the public in all stages of our work and the post holder will receive training and support to do so. We also offer generic training opportunities for researchers seeking a career in applied health sciences. We engage with a wide range of stakeholders and policymakers to facilitate the translation of research into practice.
Closing date: Noon on 28th November 2023
Researcher
Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences
University of Oxford
The post will involve working with patients and staff in mental healthcare to adapt the interventions, including using conversation analysis, think-aloud, interviews, and observational methods to understand how the intervention needs adapting and whether adapted interventions meet their goals. Thereafter, the role will involve using implementation science models to understand the process of rollout in routine mental healthcare and understand how the outcomes of the intervention have come to be achieved.
The post is embedded in the thriving Health Behaviours Team, who work on interventions to prevent or treat ill-health by intervening on diet, obesity, and smoking. We have a growing focus on using qualitative methods and conversation analysis to understand health communication. We also have a strong track record of applied research that can benefit patients and lead to changes in the health system. We are committed to involving members of the public in all stages of our work and the post holder will receive training and support to do so. We also offer generic training opportunities for researchers seeking a career in applied health sciences. We engage with a wide range of stakeholders and policymakers to facilitate the translation of research into practice.
Closing date: Noon on 28th November 2023
Research Assistant
Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences
University of Oxford
The research assistant will primarily support the TRIDENT programme, but may undertake duties outside of this to support the work within the Health Behaviours team (https://www.phc.ox.ac.uk/research/research-themes/health-behaviours-theme/health-behaviours). The team works to develop and test population and individual-level interventions to improve diet, obesity, smoking cessation and tobacco control, and supporting studies including systematic reviews and epidemiological analyses. Our team is multidisciplinary, with contributions from nutrition scientists and dietitians, psychologists, health behaviour change specialists, general practitioners, epidemiologists, and economists. The team is co-led by Professor Susan Jebb, Professor Peter Scarborough, and Professor Paul Aveyard and the post holder will work mainly on the TRIDENT programme but may also work across other projects as the need arises.
The post holder will work in project groups to support and develop research, working primarily to support experimental and intervention-based research projects led by others, most typically the TRIDENT programme manager. There will be opportunities for leading projects and working collaboratively with others. The research methods would include quantitative and qualitative data collection, analysis, and write-up. The post holder would be expected to engage the public in shaping their research programme, and disseminating the outcomes to academic audiences and other stakeholders such as policymakers and the public.
Closing date: Noon on 28th November 2023
Masters in Obesity
Leeds Beckett University
The MSc Obesity develops expertise on the transdisciplinary complexity of obesity and its application to research, policy and practice through scientific study and practical skill development underpinned by the voice of the lived experience. Topics covered in the programme include the latest developments in obesity prevention and treatment strategies, health psychology and behaviour change, obesity epidemiology and data modelling, diet and nutrition, public health and systems approaches to obesity. The MSc Obesity provides a platform to pursue a career in obesity by demonstrating the ability to think and work differently to deliver the paradigm shift and transformational change required to address the individual, societal, economic, and environmental impact of obesity, to achieve more effective, equitable, compassionate person-centred obesity care. The programme is suitable for qualified undergraduates with the aspiration to pursue a career in obesity and weight management or a closely related area, and for healthcare professionals wanting to change careers or enhance their current career options.