Category: Archived Opportunities

Paid opportunity to work in the Morphology Research Theme for up to 210 hours (6 weeks at 35 hours/week) between June and August 2024 – on a full or part time basis. The primary project we need your help on is”Investigation of advanced body measurement in chemotherapy dosing and service development”, though we have several other activities you would also be able to get involved in (within the theme of morphology / human body measurement).

Project summary
Currently within chemotherapy, estimates of a patient’s body surface area (BSA) obtained using simple body measures – height and weight – are used to calculate drug dosages. However, the accuracy of BSA for calculating dosage has been heavily criticised in previous literature, potentially reducing the effectiveness of treatment for patients with atypical body types. Three-dimensional (3D) surface imaging and advanced body measurement techniques can provide oncology practitioners with improved tools for prescribing chemotherapy dosages that are valid for individuals, regardless of their body type. The Morphology Research Theme within the Sports Engineering Research Group at the AWRC are conducting a programme of research to address this issue and develop methods for determining optimised chemotherapy dosages for patients receiving treatment for cancer.

In addition, the theme is also developing a commercial offering called the ‘Advanced Human Body Measurement’ service. This service will open the laboratory and our expertise to members of the public, sports clubs and weight loss groups, enabling them to benefit from advanced body measurement techniques, for example monitoring changes to their body following a weight
loss programme. We are seeking an intern to contribute to the work of the Morphology Research Theme in the following areas:
o Recruitment and scheduling of research participants.
o Assist in ongoing data collection, involving 3D scanning and body composition
measurement of research participants.
o Assist in retrospective analysis of a historical health dataset investigating rates of dose
reductions for patients with early breast cancer.
o Assist in drafting a research publication based on findings of retrospective analysis.

•  

Specific skills and experience required for this project
We are looking for candidates that have experience of working with the public and/or research participants. The applicant should be proactive and have experience of working independently. An interest in health and wellbeing research and the area of health assessment is desirable. If you have experience of data processing or working with large datasets this is desirable but not essential. We will cater to the skills, experience and desires of the successful candidate.

Project location
Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre (AWRC)
Home working may be available

Project delivery
This project can be completed either on a full-time or a part-time basis depending on the intern’s preference/availability. If completed on a part-time basis we would require the student to be available a minimum of 2 days per week. The salary is £13.45 per hour (£12.00 basic hourly rate; £13.45 including holiday pay allowance).

More information about this opportunity can be found on the SHU vacancies website.

If you are interested in this opportunity please contact Dr Mike Thelwell or Dr Alice Bullas.

TOPIC: Development of automated whole-body shape analysis techniques.

CLOSING DATE: Wednesday 15th May 2024 at 12:00 GMT.

Human body measurement is an essential tool for life as we know it; from the trivial: such as the fit of the clothes you wear, to the critical: such as the prescribed dosages of your medical treatments. For all these applications we typically rely on simple body measures – lengths, breaths, areas – which are seldom based upon their accuracy but the absence of an alternative. Three-dimensional (3D) surface imaging provides an alternative method through which we can not only acquire anthropometrics but explore sophisticated methods of shape analysis.

The Morphology Research Theme based within the Sports Engineering Research Group (SERG) at SHU are international leaders within the field of 3D imaging and advanced human body measurement. The origin of this research theme lies within elite sport biomechanical analyses and using 3D imaging for the design, modelling and simulation of sports equipment for improved performance. More recently, the Morphology Research Theme has been translating this knowledge into health and wellbeing applications, as discussed in this previous SERG blog post. New research by this group has shown how shape analysis can reveal the potential for misclassification using existing body measures and improve the prediction of body composition, which could redefine how we conduct individual and population-level diagnostics within healthcare.

However, further research is required to further develop our current methodologies and apply them in practice. This funded PhD research programme will aim to develop automated processing algorithms capable of assessing the shape of the entire human body and investigate the diagnostic and predictive capabilities of these methods within health and wellbeing applications. The work conducted during this PhD will also contribute directly into several ongoing research projects, including:

• An internal research fellowship led by Dr Michael Thelwell investigating how advanced body measurement can improve chemotherapy dosing methods;
• A £1.6m UKRI Future Leaders Research Fellowship led by Dr Alice Bullas investigating new approaches for assessing the overall health of children;
• An international research collaboration with Leipzig University, investigating links between external body shape and cardio-metabolic health risk;
• Collaborative research with La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia investigating new ways of analysing the human foot shape to improve footwear and foot orthoses design.

Interested in applying?

We are offering a Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) scholarship to explore the use of technology to support care pathways for joint replacement surgery. The GTA scheme aims to develop highly skilled postgraduate researchers who are well prepared to enter a career in academia or research. The GTA scheme is an opportunity for you to receive a 3.5-year full-time PhD scholarship at Sheffield Hallam University. While supporting the PhD research, you will carry out up to 180 hours of teaching or teaching-related activity per academic year, with the intention of providing opportunities to develop a rounded academic portfolio.

Interested applicants should be proactive, willing to learn and have a passion for health and wellbeing research. Experience of data analytics and data processing of large datasets using programming languages such as MATLAB, Python or C++ or software development would be desirable, but not essential.  

For further details on the research project, the scholarship and details of how to apply please follow this LINK or contact the lead supervisor – Dr Michael Thelwell (m.thelwell@shu.ac.uk).

To apply for the GTA scholarship, you will need to complete and submit an application form here along with a detailed 1,500-word research proposal addressing the project title.

The closing date for applications is Wednesday 15th May 2024 at 12:00 GMT.

Advanced Human Body Measurement – service development, research execution & publication development.

4-week paid research internship

Sport Engineering Research Group (Dr Simon Choppin – Lead)

Project description:

Body measurement is fundamental to several research fields, including: ergonomics, health, nutrition, sport and fashion. In the Morphology Research Group at the AWRC, we specialise in body measurement and are currently developing an ‘Advanced Human Body Measurement’ service. This service will open the laboratory and our expertise to members of the public, sports clubs and weight loss groups. They will be able to take advantage of advanced body measurement to monitor changes to their body following training regimes or weight loss programmes (for example). Our service gives the ability to track body fat percentage, body size and shape. Due to the advanced information we can capture, we can create detailed reports over time. These reports will not only show changes in body weight and fat percentage, but will include detailed 3D information about where the body has changed in size and shape. This information can be navigated in 3D using computer visualisation, or even printed into a physical representation. We hope that access to more detailed information will help users of the service to maintain motivational drive and make lifestyle interventions more effective in the long-term. As well as, help the research group build a database of body scans that can be used in future research.

We seek a an intern to assist in:

• The development of our service – 7 days
  • Recruit participants from the University Staff
  • Assist in capturing body measurement data, using our 3D scanner an manual tools
  • Help to process the measurement data and develop measurement reports
  • Assess satisfaction of participants, gaining feedback on the service
  • Research appropriate timings and costings for the service, make enquiries with other companies offering similar services
  • Consider the logistics of delivering a service within the AWRC.
• Research into the efficacy of childhood measurement processes – 5 days
  • Assist in developing an ethics submission
  • Help to pilot and prepare for a data collection involving measurement of children aged 4 – 12 years old
• Assist with the editing of an research publication: “3D surface imaging devices and body composition estimation” – 1 day
• Help to process a large datasets for a research publication: “Assessing the efficacy of shape measurement in the prediction of Type II diabetes risk” – 7 days.

Student outcomes:

• Experience of the development and execution of consultancy research / services
• Teamwork
• Training and practice with anthropometry techniques (including: BodPod and 3D body scanning training)
• Experience of working with a large dataset
• Experience of academic writing

Candidate Profile:

We are looking for candidates that have experience of working with the public and/or research participants. The applicant should be proactive and have experience of working independently. An interest in health and wellbeing research and the area of health assessment is desirable. If you have experience of data processing or working with large datasets this is desirable but not essential. We will cater to the skills, experience and desires of the successful candidate.

Project Location:

Project team background:

The morphology research group consists of Dr Alice Bullas, Dr Michael Thelwell and Dr Simon Choppin who will all support the student during the placement. We have a dedicated morphology Laboratory at the AWRC in which the intern will be able to work, we will also ensure that at least one member of the group is present every day during the internship for on-going contact and support. We have a laptop and computing resources the intern can work on during the internship and a general office is available at the AWRC that the student will be able to access and use as they wish. There is an operational support team at the AWRC that will induct the intern, giving them access to the building and spaces for use during the internship.

We will co-ordinate weekly update meetings for the whole team so that progress and any problems can be discussed with everyone.

If you wish to discuss this opportunity with us please contact: Dr Simon Choppin (s.choppin@shu.ac.uk)

Apply here . Deadline 5 pm 10th June