Research Engineer

Imperial College London and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) are seeking a Research Engineer to join the exciting new Imperial/NTU CYber Protection for HEalthcaRe (IN-CYPHER) research programme on the cybersecurity of connected medical devices and systems. This researcher will evaluate the cyber security of existing sensors and engineer novel devices that are secure by design.

The research programme represents a collaboration between the United Kingdom and Singapore and will be based at the newly established Imperial Global Singapore (IGS). IN-CYPHER is comprised of four interacting themes, spanning the design of intelligent medical devices through to the use of their data in informing personalised healthcare. Allied to other programmes in Singapore and the UK, it represents a unique opportunity to be at the forefront of research and development into securing the vital information that flows between implantable, wearable and connected medical devices, including those currently in use, and those yet to be developed.

There are four themes of IN-CYPHER. We are seeking a motivated research engineer to join IN-CYPHER Theme 4 and contribute to the design and fabrication of novel biosensors, which complements the work of Themes 1 – 3. Unique in its scope, we are developing technologies that span embedded systems, and the protocols used to control and communicate sensitive patient information, all the way up to interventional devices and systems for personalised healthcare.

We are particularly looking for a research engineer with the following backgrounds:

• Biomedical sensor design and fabrication for diabetes technology
• Lateral flow assay fabrication
• Biomedical Engineering
• Wet lab experience with regard to protein and small molecule assays
• Translational and regulatory expertise in medical devices
• Knowledge of diabetes and diabetes biomarkers
• Cybersecurity modelling of wearable biosensors

Theme 1 Protecting Implantable Devices

Implantable and wearable medical devices – including both sensors and active devices – operate under strong design constraints. Our research in this area seeks to embed secure design from first principles, and at the most fundamental levels (silicon or substrate) of device design; we also recognise the need to consider the challenge of post-quantum cryptographically secure techniques in the immediate future.

Theme 2 Securing Connected Wearables & Healthcare Systems

Increasingly, medical devices incorporate some form of connectivity, and many of these devices are necessarily designed to be in use for between one and two decades. There is a constant risk of exploit of zero-day vulnerabilities, and therefore a requirement to detect breaches in extremely intricate complex networks and data flow pipelines. We seek solutions to this challenge that embed security at hardware level.

Theme 3 Algorithms for Privacy, Security and Provenance

To control active medical devices – such as closed-loop drug-delivery systems – information moves from sensors and devices along different communications channels; data provenance and integrity are important. Moreover, the use of data-driven algorithms potentially exposes protected patient characteristics, presenting specific technical challenges not only within operational use, but also to product development cycles.

Theme 4 Clinical Innovation & Translation

Personalised or precision medicine relies on the ability to detect biomarkers or monitor biochemical processes on an individual level, underscoring the need to continue developing novel biosensors. Furthermore, as more patient data is collected there is a need for better protection of sensitive patient information and methods for handling and processing the increasing amount of healthcare data– building on from the objectives of Themes 1, 2, and 3. With key researchers and teams from both Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, we seek to develop threat models that are suitable for emerging approaches to personalised medicine, and particularly where data-driven techniques might offer improvements to patient outcomes.

The collaborating Departments include senior academics from the Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction and the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial –the largest Biomedical Engineering Department in the UK – and senior researchers from the School of Computer Science and Engineering (SCSE), School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine at Nanyang Technological University. Candidates will be employed by Imperial Global Singapore, a research division of Imperial College London, consistently ranked within the top 10 of the QS University Rankings. Candidates must be resident and based in Singapore, but there will be opportunities for research visits to Imperial’s London-based locations.

Informal enquiries are greatly welcome. You are encouraged to send an e-mail to Dr Anna Bird a.