DrShila Ghazanfar

1. Project title: Statistical methods for the analysis of spatial omics technologies

Project summary:

We invite applications for a fully funded PhD position to join an ARC-funded project developing statistical and computational methods for the analysis of emerging spatial omics technologies. These technologies map the molecular profiles of individual cells directly within tissue, revealing how cells organise, communicate and change in health and disease. As datasets become increasingly large and complex, there is a growing need for rigorous statistical approaches that can meaningfully characterise the structure of these cellular environments.

This project will focus on creating new analytical frameworks that help researchers interpret complex spatial relationships between many types of cells, compare these patterns across heterogeneous tissues, and understand how upstream processing decisions influence biological conclusions. All methods will be released as open-source software to support widespread adoption in biology, medicine and data science.

The PhD candidate will be jointly supervised by Dr Shila Ghazanfar and A/Prof Ellis Patrick and will join an active research environment spanning statistics, bioinformatics and biomedical collaboration. The School of Mathematics and Statistics and the Sydney Precision Data Science Centre offer strong mentoring, regular training activities and opportunities to connect with leading researchers in spatial omics.

This scholarship is ideal for candidates with a background in statistics, data science, computer science or bioinformatics.

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