Faculty of Medicine and Health
School of Dentistry
Lecturer in Medical Statistics/Biostatistics
In this exciting new role you will be part of the research team focussed around the School’s Wellcome Trust
funded Dental Translational and Clinical Research Unit (DenTCRU) and will work closely with the Chair in
Applied Health & Translational Research. You will carry out high quality research and student education and
contribute towards delivery of the School’s goals in translational research “from bench to patient and back
again”.
You should hold a higher degree or equivalent qualification with a major statistics/medical statistics
component, a developing record of research which complements the DenTCRU mission in translational
research. You should also have the ability engage with student education delivery and have experience in
quantitative methodological research of observational data.
For an appointment at grade 8, you should hold a PhD in a relevant discipline or equivalent qualification, have
a track record of successfully attracting competitive external grant income and a proven ability to develop
external contacts. Your publication profile should demonstrate your ability to publish high quality research in
the best journals. Proven teaching experience translating research into innovative learning methods is also
essential.
This is a pioneering opportunity to work closely with the DenTCRU team and School of Dentistry staff to
develop a portfolio of high quality translational research projects, attracting external funding and postgraduate
research students.
The University of Leeds is committed to providing equal opportunities for all. The university is a
charter member of Athena SWAN and holds the Bronze award. We will be happy to consider job share
applications and are committed to flexible working for all our employees.
Informal enquiries may be made to Professor Sue Pavitt Professor of Applied Health & Translational
Research & Director of DenTCRU: s.pavitt@leeds.ac.uk +44 (0)113 343 6985 or Professor Deirdre
Devine, Director of Research and Innovation; email: d.a.devine@leeds.ac.uk, tel. +44 (0)113 343 6116.
If you have any specific enquiries about your online application please contact Christina Dowe on tel.
+44 (0) 113 343 8334, email c.h.dowe@leeds.ac.uk.
University Grade 7 (£31,342 - £37,394) or 8 (£38,511 - £45,954 p.a.) depending upon experience and
research output
Job ref:
MHDEN1017
Closing Date: 23 March 2015
Purpose of the post
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Pursue methodological and applied research within a high-quality clinical environment to expedite
the roll out of our research ‘from bench to patient and back again’ and contribute to training the
next generation of clinical academic researchers
Assist in preparing funding applications that complement and enhance DenTCRU’s research
areas
Undertake quantitative analyses for projects as directed
Plan and manage research projects under the overall direction of the DenTCRU Director
Use initiative to manage and organise own workload to ensure that deadlines are met
Establish a record of regular publication of original research
Liaise with a network of external contacts for the benefit of research within the School
Carry out teaching duties, where appropriate, at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, as
required
Take part in knowledge-transfer activities, where appropriate
Ensure that research governance procedures and data protection is adhered to at all times
according to local and national guidance
Contribute effectively to the administrative processes and the committee structures of the School
and as appropriate of the Faculty and wider University
Communicate the research themes of DenTCRU and facilitate opportunities for collaboaration.
Explore and be familiar with relevant methodological and funding theme developments that fall
within the scope of research in DenTCRU
Be able to carry out completion of appropriate study documentation to research project funders
and other interested parties
In addition to the above duties, at grade 8 you will also be expected to:
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To publish your research in the most appropriate and highest quality journals relevant to your
discipline.
To develop an independent research profile within the wider interdisciplinary team, securing
external funding to support your research from appropriate sources.
To progress our translational research agenda.
To present your own research work at national and international conferences and contribute to
external professional bodies in your field, where relevant and appropriate.
To evidence continual updating of your own knowledge and understanding of the field of statistical
methodology and its application to your research activities.
To contribute to the teaching of statistics within the School of Dentistry; specifically to plan and
deliver basic statistical education to undergraduate and postgraduate students.
To assist undergraduate and postgraduate students in the design and statistical analysis of
research projects.
To work with other Schools as appropriate to deliver teaching in own area of expertise
To provide high quality student support, acting as a personal tutor, supporting involvement in
Leeds for Life, and working with students as members of a learning community to sustain ‘The
Partnership’.
To contribute to the academic management processes of the School including
examinations/assessment and quality assurance processes and appropriate committees.
To develop innovative approaches to student education.
To take initiatives in personal and professional development and to attend such courses and
events as may be appropriate.
To contribute to the organisation and management of the student experience, e.g. student
tracking and progression.
University Values
All staff are expected to operate in line with the University’s values and standards, which work as an
integral part of our strategy and set out the principles of how we work together. More information
about the University’s strategy and values is available at http://www.leeds.ac.uk/comms/strategy/
Key Relationships
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You will report to the Chair in Applied Health/Translational Research and be responsible to the
Dean of the School of Dentistry and onward to the Faculty Dean. You will be assigned a mentor
during your first probationary years and have specific support in relation to completion of the
University of Leeds Teaching and Research Award (ULTRA). You will be expected to work with
other members of DenTCRU, with clinical colleagues and scientists and, where appropriate, to
direct the work of support staff within the Institute.
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You will be expected to explore the scope for further inter-disciplinary collaboration within the
University. This will include developing the collaborative links with the Division of Epidemiology
and Biostatistics in the Leeds Institute of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine (LICAMM) in the
School of Medicine. The University expects academic staff to develop their professional
competence and offers a wide range of staff development courses.
Person Specification
Essential
 Post-graduate qualification with a major statistics/medical statistics component
 A developing record of research in areas which complement the DenTCRU mission in
translational research, commensurate with stage of career, in statistics/medical statistics as
evidenced by quality peer reviewed publications.
 A capacity for critical conceptual analysis and original thought
 Has worked independently to analyse statistical data
 Expertise and experience in quantitative methodological research of observational data
 Evidence of the ability to produce or contribute to quality refereed publications
 Willingness and ability to teach effectively at an introductory and postgraduate level and an
enthusiastic approach to all aspects of teaching evidenced by a willingness to undertake
appropriate training
 Effective communication and presentation skills.
 A capacity to enthuse others and to work successfully as a member of a team. .
 An ability to demonstrate your commitment to research excellence with impact.
 Experience of developing own research ideas and translate them to successful outputs.
 A high level of interpersonal and communication skills, including written and presentational, and
the ability to work as member of a team.
 Sound judgement and effectiveness in carrying out research.
 Initiative, motivation and enthusiasm for supporting and advancing research.
 The ability to work effectively, responsibly and independently, and to work under pressure.
 Good organisational skills, including the ability to manage time effectively and prioritise tasks.
Desirable
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PhD in a relevant discipline (or within 6 months of submission) or equivalent qualification
A strong and sustained track record of research or scholarly pedagogic activity which has been
published in nationally recognised journals
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A track record of successfully attracting competitive external grant income from peer-reviewed
sources
A proven ability to develop external contacts and to raise research funds through government or
industrial sources or other.
Proven teaching experience translating research into innovative teaching materials at
undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
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Ability to engage with and integrate different disciplinary perspectives.
The ability to motivate and engender enthusiasm in others, as evidenced for example in student
feedback obtained from teaching.
Experience with handling large and complex datasets, specifically around issue of missing or
incomplete data
A working experience or familiarity with NHS routine datasets
You must meet all of the essential criteria for appointment at Grade 7 and both essential and
desirable criteria for appointment at Grade 8
Further information
Faculty Information
With more than 6,000 students, 1,600 staff and annual research income of £50m, the Faculty of
Medicine and Health at Leeds is bigger than some universities. Leeds has one of the largest medical
and bioscience research bases in the UK, and is an acknowledged world leader in cancer,
cardiovascular, psychiatric, genetic, musculo-skeletal and health services research. Treatments
developed in Leeds are transforming the lives of people around the world living with conditions such
as HIV, TB, diabetes and malaria.
The School of Dentistry
The School of Dentistry is newly convened in August 2013 following a realignment of the NHS Trust
and University elements of the former Leeds Dental Institute. The School is committed to the highest
standards of academic excellence and works closely with partners in the Leeds Teaching Hospitals
NHS Trust to deliver high quality patient care and exceptional clinical training and education at all
levels from undergraduate teaching through to specialist registration. We aim to underpin high quality
clinical research with world class basic and applied science, in order to meet international priority
needs for research in dentistry and to deliver excellent research with impact for patient and
population benefit.
The School appointed a new Dean in 2013, Professor Helen Whelton (President of the International
Association of Dental Research 2013-2014). Professor Whelton’s plans include an ambitious
international clinical research programme, addressing unanswered questions about the links between
oral health and general health.
The School of Dentistry is situated on the second floor of the Worsley Medical and Dental building,
which also accommodates the Dental Hospital, the Medical School and the University of Leeds Health
Sciences Library. It is situated on the southern side of the University campus half a mile from the city
centre. The School recently expanded its estate and the basic sciences, in the Division of Oral Biology,
are situated in the Wellcome Trust Brenner Building on the St James’ campus, providing high quality
and purpose built laboratory provision and access to a wide range of cutting edge facilities.
The School is organised into five administrative academic Divisions:
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The Division of Applied Health and Translation - Head of Division Professor S. Pavitt
The Division of Oral Biology - Head of Division Professor J. Kirkham
The Division of Oral Surgery, Medicine and Pathology - Head of Division Dr A. Mighell
The Division of Paediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics - Head of Division Professor M. Duggal
The Division of Restorative Dentistry – Head of Division Professor D.V. Clerehugh
Student Experience and Education Overview
The School of Dentistry is currently the most popular dental school in the United Kingdom. We
attract more applicants than any other school for our undergraduate programmes and we are the
second largest school for undergraduate dental education in the UK.
Student education at the University of Leeds’ School of Dentistry is internationally renowned for being
both flagship and innovative, and this is evidenced by the School offering the only undergraduate
masters’ programme in dental surgery in the UK. In tandem with our undergraduate masters’ dental
surgery programme we also offer a Diploma in Dental Hygiene and Dental Therapy and, in
partnership with the Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust, we are also involved in the provision of Dental
Nursing and Dental Technology training. This makes us unique, as we are the only school that trains
all members of the dental team. In tandem with our undergraduate programmes we also offer an
expanding portfolio of postgraduate dental programmes.
The quality of teaching on our undergraduate programmes is very high and all staff are committed to
continually developing our taught programmes. Recently the General Dental Council inspected all our
undergraduate programmes with all programmes being found to be of the highest standard.
Our programmes are completely modular and benefit from having Year and Module Leads with
Programme Leads managed under the direction of the Director of Student Education.
All members of staff within the School participate in both Undergraduate and Postgraduate taught
provision and this, we believe, maintains the high quality of our teaching, which is consistently
assessed by our students as being very high.
We have a student advice team, which supports all students within the school. This along with our
personal tutoring system, with which all staff engage, provides the highest levels of pastoral support
for our students.
Research Overview
In REF2014 the School of Dentistry (returned in Unit of Assessment 3: Allied Health
Professions, Dentistry, Nursing & Pharmacy) was rated very highly, with 91% of its research
rated as world leading or internationally excellent. The successful candidate will join a group of
high quality, highly active researchers. The School of Dentistry enjoys a lively, multi-disciplinary
research environment and has a long held reputation for excellence in interdisciplinary research. We
contribute to a number of the Faculty of Medicine and Health research themes.
Our vision is to use interdisciplinary expertise to understand the fundamental mechanisms of
disease, to identify and treat early, improve outcomes, restore function and address the needs for
prevention. We seek to extrapolate the findings and tools developed for dental research across to
biomedicine in general and position our research at the forefront of biomedical and health sciences
research. We have three Research Groups, each with internationally recognised leadership:
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Basic Dental Sciences Research Group led by Professor J. Kirkham
Clinical Dental Research Group led by Professor D.V. Clerehugh
Dental Education Research & Scholarship Group led by Professor M. Manogue
The Groups collaborate extensively with each other and with colleagues within our Faculty (Medicine
and Health), as well as in other Faculties (e.g. Biology, Engineering, Mathematics and Physical
Sciences).
The Leeds Dental Translational and Clinical Research Unit (“DenTCRU”) led by Professor Sue
Pavitt http://medhealth.leeds.ac.uk/info/471/dental_translational_and_clinical_research_unit//
DenTCRU has been co-funded via a £1.7 million prestigious capital award by the Wellcome Trust
and the University of Leeds to provide a state of the art clinical and laboratory facility to deliver worldclass clinical and translational research in oral health. DenTCRU offers a unique, high-quality clinical
environment to expedite the roll out of our research ‘from bench to patient and back again’ and train
the next generation of clinical academic researchers. This 6 chair Unit, adjacent to the Dental
Hospital clinics and to research laboratories, is supported by staff with expertise in trials management
and trials statistics, and technical support in microbiology and tissue culture.
DenTCRU provides a dedicated, high quality clinical research environment in which to deliver worldclass clinical and translational research in Dentistry.The strategic plans for the unit include the
opportunity to:
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Establish an evidence base for dental treatment and healthcare delivery to ensure research
benefits human health through collaborations with colleagues across the University and
internationally
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Provide a focus for Knowledge Transfer of research innovations in tissue engineering,
biomaterials, oral healthcare delivery and diagnostics
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Increase stakeholder partnerships including the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR),
the Department of Health, the oral healthcare industry, the World Health Organisation, the
large number of regional small and medium enterprises involved in dental applications and the
people of Leeds and our region
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Increase the potential in clinical and translational research through interdisciplinary
collaborations
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Embed high quality clinical research within the School of Dentistry postgraduate training
programmes and continued professional development programmes.
International Profile and Initiatives
In line with the University of Leeds strategy the School of Dentistry is committed to enhancing our
international profile through the development of key strategic partnerships. Formal collaborative
agreements between Leeds and Dental Schools in the Universities of Michigan, Osaka and Nanjing
have been established to promote excellence in international, multi-centre collaborative research,
particularly in clinical and translational research and regenerative technologies. Building on shared
expertise and knowledge amongst our partners we aim to work together to improve oral health
outcomes in our own communities and across the globe.
In addition to formal Memoranda of Understanding with the Universities of Michigan and Osaka we
have established a Joint Centre for Oral Health Sciences with the University of Nanjing. We are also
founder members of the World Universities Network for Oral Health Sciences, a network of research
intensive universities committed to addressing global challenges in Oral Health. The impact from the
development of our Strategic partnerships has included joint research through staff/student
exchange, resulting in publications, grant income and enhanced opportunities for dissemination of
research advances to a global audience.
Additional information
Terms and Conditions
Details of the terms and conditions of employment for all staff at the university, including information
on pensions and benefits, are available on the Human Resources web pages accessible via the links
on the right hand side, or at http://hr.leeds.ac.uk/policies
University Teaching and Research Award
The Senate of the University has agreed that all newly appointed staff with a contract of 0.5 FTE and
above who have a teaching/ research role and are deemed new to teaching or research in Higher
Education should be required to complete successfully all of the requirements of the University of
Leeds Teaching and Research or an appropriate alternative. Whether or not this applies to you, will
be decided as part of the appointment procedure at interview.
Further details of the ULTRA are available at http://www.sddu.leeds.ac.uk/sddu-ultra.html
Staff with contracts of less than 0.5 FTE may take the ULTRA provided that they have a broad
enough range of teaching, research and assessment to complete the requirements of the
Programme: this will be decided in conjunction with the School and the course providers.
Disclosure and Barring Service checks
This post falls under the remit of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.
As such, all applicants are required to declare any convictions, cautions, reprimands and warnings,
including any pending criminal prosecutions and those which would otherwise be considered 'spent'
under the 1974 Act. However, amendments to the Exceptions Order 1975 (2013) provide that certain
‘spent’ convictions and cautions are now 'protected' and are not subject to disclosure to employers ,
and cannot be taken into account. Guidance and criteria on the filtering of these cautions and
convictions can be found on the Disclosure and Barring Service website.
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/disclosure-and-barring-service and at
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/1198/pdfs/uksi_20131198_en.pdf
Declarations of any such information as described above, should be made in the ‘other personal
details’ section of the application form and details sent to the Recruitment Officer at
disclosure@leeds.ac.uk.
Enhanced Disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is required for this position.
The successful applicant will be required to give consent for the University to check their criminal
record status through independent verification (from the DBS). Information will be kept in strict
confidence. Your offer of appointment will be subject to the University being satisfied with the
outcome of these checks.
Disabled Applicants
The post is located on Levels 5 & 6 of the Worsley Building. Disabled applicants wishing to review
access to the building are invited to contact the department direct. Additional information may be
sought from the Recruitment Officer, email disclosure@leeds.ac.uk or tel + 44 (0)113 343 1723.
Disabled applicants are not obliged to inform employers of their disability but will still be covered by
the Equality Act once their disability becomes known.
Further information for applicants with disabilities, impairments or health conditions is
available in the applicant guidance.