Arts, Hughes, Museum Information Polyomics ADVERT
1. Title: Museum information management/molecular biology – ‘The application of nextgeneration DNA Sequencing to the eighteenth-century Hunterian anatomy collections for
better understanding of disease evolution and its historic documentation”.
2. Project description: This project will investigate the application of genomic DNA
Sequencing and digital humanities methods to the Hunterian anatomy collections and
associated archives to enable a better understanding of eighteenth-century disease, creating
new knowledge about historic medical collections.
The project will develop an innovative, multidisciplinary, methodological approach to
working with historic medical collections, integrating the lab work with archival and museum
research. It will use polyomics and digital humanities methods for analysis of the eighteenthcentury anatomy and pathology collections of Dr William Hunter (especially those related to
tuberculosis (TB) and syphilis) and related archives at the University of Glasgow.
Recent breakthroughs in polyomics indicate that studying historic DNA with shotgun
metagenomic approaches without target-specific capture or amplification has great
potential to provide new insight into the emergence, evolution and spread of microbial
pathogens in both contemporary and historical contexts.
However, archival and information management challenges, especially collections metadata
and discovery can inhibit opening historical medical collections for research. Similarly, data
analysis and visualization of this material is seldom seen as an opportunity to investigate
how new knowledge about the collections can be integrated into the development of
collections. Integrated multi-disciplinary approaches are needed to understand collections
holistically to make them accessible to new scientific analysis and enable new research areas
to emerge, and understand the implications for the field of collections documentation and
presentation.
Digital Humanities and Information Studies will provide the framework for understanding
collections information to inform the scientific analysis, and visualising and representing the
results of the qualitative and quantitative approaches deployed. Glasgow Polyomics
researchers will supervise historic DNA extraction and sequencing, as well as downstream
data analysis, while the Hunterian staff will facilitate access to the collection and related
metadata, and provide curatorial expertise. Together, this will foster a unique integration of
historic medical samples, the archives and special collections that describe them, and the
contemporary scientific outputs they enable.
The project will bring together a supervisory team from Information Studies, Molecular
Biology, and the Hunterian Museum.
3. Person Specification
The successful candidate will have an excellent academic track record to date and a good
first degree in either a scientific discipline with a strong interest or secondary area of focus
in the humanities or museum informatics; OR a background in the humanities with a strong
interest/secondary focus in scientific research. The scholar should have a strong
appreciation of multidisciplinary work, and an interest in humanities and science
collaboration.
An existing research interest in any of the multi disciplinary areas of focus required for
combining scientific research with historical anatomy collections is particularly welcome, for
example, molecular biology, museum information management, digital humanities, DNA
sequencing or bioinformatics.
Experience in molecular biology lab work is essential
4)
Application details: Applicants should make contact with any member of the
supervision team well in advance of the application deadline to discuss their eligibility for
the project (Prof. Lorna Hughes, HATII; Dr. Pawel Herzyk, Institute of Molecular Cell and
Systems Biology; Mr. Mungo Campbell, Humterian, Professor Michael Barrett, Institute of
Infection, Immunity and Inflammation ). Applicants may submit applications up until the
application deadline of 22 January 2016.