The Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) is a cutting-edge institute addressing global public health challenges through research, translation into policy and education. ISGlobal has a broad portfolio in communicable and non-communicable diseases including environmental and climate determinants, and applies a multidisciplinary scientific approach ranging from the molecular to the population level. Research is organized in five programs: Climate, Air Pollution, Nature and Urban Health; Environment and Health over the Lifecourse; Global Viral and Bacterial Infections; Malaria and Neglected Parasitic Diseases and Maternal Child and Reproductive Health. ISGlobal is accredited with the Severo Ochoa distinction, a seal of excellence of the Spanish Science Ministry.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

ISGlobal is seeking an Informatician who is interested in taking over and managing activities of the project P4COPD. The overall project goals are: (1) to investigate the genomic and environmental/lifestyle determinants of COPD in young adults; (2) to contrast them with those determined in children, adolescent and older individuals; and (3) to explore the feasibility and cost of implementing in clinical practice a P4 strategy for COPD in young adults.

The candidate will work on the Bioinformatics Research Group in Epidemiology (BRGE) lead by Dr Juan R Gonzalez which is integrated into the Environment and Health over the Lifecourse research programme that aims to conduct high-quality integrative research to expand knowledge on the causes and mechanisms of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), with a focus on environmental, radiation, occupational, lifestyle, social, infectious, and genetic risk factors throughout the life course, from prenatal to late adult life. Key outcomes include respiratory, cardiovascular and immune health, neurodevelopment, and cancer.

And project/department description could be including here.
As part of the P4COPD project, our work package focuses on the key objective of extending a secure, federated data analysis platform—originally developed for omics data—to support the analysis of medical images. Built on DataSHIELD, this platform enables collaborative research across institutions while preserving data privacy and complying with data protection regulations, particularly in the context of sensitive bioinformatics workflows.
The next phase of our work involves integrating deep learning techniques to handle image data, which introduces new computational and privacy challenges. To meet these, we are implementing and optimizing federated learning algorithms, allowing decentralized training of neural networks without sharing raw image data across nodes.
This enhancement will broaden the platform’s applicability beyond omics, enabling secure and scalable analysis in areas such as medical imaging, clinical research, and multi-modal data integration.
We are seeking a bioinformatician with a strong background in computer science or informatics to join this interdisciplinary effort. The ideal candidate will be comfortable working at the intersection of bioinformatics, machine learning, and secure data science, and will contribute to the design, implementation, and validation of new tools within this privacy-preserving framework.
This contract, ref. PMP21/00090, is part of the project funded by ISCIII and European Union “NextGenerationEU”/PRTR”.

SPECIFIC DUTIES

• Develop cross-platform user interfaces using Flutter, enabling researchers to interact with the federated learning tools and visualize results in a user-friendly, secure environment.
• Create and maintain secure data pipelines to support distributed training and inference of deep learning models across multiple data nodes, adhering to data protection standards.
• Extend and integrate DataSHIELD modules to support deep learning workflows, ensuring smooth orchestration, monitoring, and usability across platforms.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including data scientists, software developers, and domain experts to ensure robust implementation, effective validation, and real-world applicability of the developed tools.

AUXILIAR TASKS

This job description reflects the present requirements of the post but may evolve at any time in the future as duties and responsibilities change and/or develop providing there is appropriate consultation with the post-holder.

This job description is not a definitive or exhaustive list of responsibilities but identifies the key responsibilities and tasks of the post holder. The specific objectives of the post holder will be subject to review as part of the individual professional assessment process.

SKILLS

• Proactive and motivated person
• Strong organization and team-working skills.
• Professional attitude with attention to details.
• Team player, yet capable of working autonomously
• Familiar with GitHub

The post holder will adhere to ISGlobal principles contained in People management policy, including Equity, diversity and health safety. The post holder will respect, and be accountable to ensure ISGlobal policies and procedures.

TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE / QUALIFICATIONS

• Have a completed, or close to completion, Master in Data Science or AI, Engineering Degree in Bioinformatics or Informatics with strong analytics expertise in both back- and front-end programming
• Programming experience in one or more general purpose programming language that allow him/her to perform statistical analyses: Phyton, R and Flutter
• Experience with front-end apps
• Be willing to work in an interdisciplinary team within a highly collaborative research institute
• Be fluent in spoken and written English

SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS

• We are looking for a person with high organizational and teamwork skills, capable of working
• autonomously, proactively and motivated, with good verbal and written communication.
• Flexibility of schedules will be valued.

LANGUAGE LEVEL

• Proficiency in English
• Catalan and Spanish will be highly valued.

CONDITIONS

• Duration: 6 months
• Starting date: 01/06/2025
• Contract Type: Part time
• Salary: Technician II C

HOW TO APPLY

Applicants must fill in the request form and attach the CV and a Cover Letter. Each attached document must be named with the candidate name and surname.

The receipt of applications will be open until 27th of May 2025.

The interviews could be placed during the reception of candidatures period.

Diverse candidatures are encouraged, that includes: gender, race, ethnicity, religion, age, sexual orientation, physical abilities, and political views.

SELECTION PROCESS

The selection process is designed in two phases:
1- Interview phase of a technical nature, with the team that requires the incorporation. To assess the person's skills and CV.
2 - Meeting with HR with the finalist(s) to finish assessing the profile and discuss contractual and institutional issues.

If needed any technical test could be passed. A Psychological Competency Evaluation Test will be required for the structural or transversal positions.

In accordance with the OTM-R principles, a gender-balanced recruitment panel is formed for every vacancy at the beginning of the process. After reviewing the content of the applications, the panel will start the interviews, with at least one technical and one administrative interview. A profile questionnaire as well as a technical exercise may be required during the process.

In ISGlobal we are committed to maintaining and developing a work environment in which the values and principles of our organization are respected and equal opportunities between women and men be promoted in each of the areas in which we operate, not tolerating discrimination based on criteria such as age, gender, marital status, race, ethnicity, functional diversity, political leanings, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

We confirm our commitment towards the value of the diversity of our staff and student population and seek to promote peace, equity, diversity and inclusion as essential elements in contribution to improving health worldwide.