LONDON SCHOOL OF HYGIENE & TROPICAL MEDICINE
FACULTY OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND POLICY
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL
HEALTH RESEARCH
AND
ENVIRONMENTAL
Post: Research Fellow in Medical Statistics
We are seeking an enthusiastic, talented Research Fellow with strong statistical skills to
undertake methodological and applied work in a project funded by the Medical Research
Council-UK and led by Dr Antonio Gasparrini. The successful candidate will take part to
epidemiological investigations undertaken within the MCC (multi-country multi-city)
collaboration, an international research network established to investigate temperaturehealth relationships and produce health impact assessments under climate change
scenarios. The primary duty of the post-holder will be to carry out statistical analyses of the
MCC dataset, a collection of time series data sets from hundreds of location across the
globe. The post-holder will also contribute to other projects of Dr Gasparrini involving
development of statistical methods and software implementation, in particular about the
extension of distributed lag-non-linear models to individual cohort data and the development
of multivariate meta-analytical techniques.
THE SCHOOL
The London School of Hygiene &Tropical Medicine is a world-leading centre for research and
postgraduate education in public and global health. Our mission is to improve health and health
equity in the UK and worldwide; working in partnership to achieve excellence in public and global
health research, education and translation of knowledge into policy and practice.
Founded in 1899 by Sir Patrick Manson, the School has expanded in recent years at its two main
sites on Keppel Street and Tavistock Place. The School’s multidisciplinary expertise includes
clinicians, epidemiologists, statisticians, social scientists, molecular biologists and immunologists,
and we work with partners worldwide to support the development of teaching and research
capacity.
Research income has grown to over £85 million per year from national and international funding
sources including the UK government, the European Commission, the Wellcome Trust and
philanthropic sources.
Education programmes have grown to more than 1,000 London-based Master’s and Research
students, 2,900 studying Master’s by distance learning and 1,000 on short courses and continuous
professional development. We have also launched a series of free online courses, and more than
15,000 people registered on the first of these, Ebola in context. Our staff, students and alumni work
in more than 150 countries in government, academia, international agencies and health services.
The School is highly ranked in various university league tables. It was named the world’s leading
research-focused graduate school in the Times Higher Education World Rankings in 2013. In
2014, it was ranked in the top 10 universities in the world for citation rate by the new EU-supported
U-Multirank database, fourth in the world for impact in medical sciences by the Leiden Ranking and
third in the world for social science and public health in the US News Best Global Universities
Ranking. According to the results of the UK government’s Research Excellence Framework,
published in December 2014, the School was ranked second overall (after the Institute for Cancer
Research) on the key measure of impact.
ORGANISATION AND MANAGEMENT
There are three academic faculties, one principally concerned with infectious and tropical
diseases and two with public health (Faculty of Epidemiology & Population Health; Faculty of
Public Health & Policy).
FACULTY OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND POLICY
The Faculty of Public Health & Policy is responsible for research and teaching in the policy,
planning and evaluation of health programmes and services. Its interests are both national
and international, encompassing industrialized, and less developed countries. The Faculty
has three research departments:
Health Services Research and Policy
Global Health and Development
Social and Environmental Health Research
Each department is multidisciplinary, containing about 50 - 70 academic staff representing
medicine, statistics, epidemiology, sociology, economics, anthropology, operational
research, psychology, nursing and history. Each department is responsible for its own
research. The School has adopted a rotating system of management for its academic
departments and faculties. The management of a department is under the control of the
Department Head, appointed by the Director for a period of three years in the first instance.
The Faculty Head is appointed in a similar manner but for an initial period of up to five years.
The Faculty currently has a staff of 26 professors, 8 readers, 33 senior lecturers, 64
lecturers, 102 research fellows and assistants, about 40 computing, administrative and
secretarial staff, and a number of honorary staff
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH (SEHR)
The Department (headed by Professor Tim Rhodes) is one of three in the Faculty of Public
Health and Policy and is based at Tavistock Place. SEHR carries out internationally
renowned research into the social and environmental determinants of health and the
evaluation and analysis of public health policy. It has a strong multi-disciplinary focus, with
researchers from the fields of epidemiology, anthropology, history, health economics,
mathematical modelling, medicine and ethics, political science, sociology and statistics. Its
principal research themes include: Drug use and health behaviour; Health promotion;
Reproductive and sexual health; Environment and health; Ethics, public health and human
rights; Community participation and health; Globalisation and health; Health impact and
decision analysis; History and health; evaluation; and Social medicine.
TEACHING
The Faculty of Public Health and Policy is responsible for organizing a one year Master's
course in Public Health, which allows students to take a general MSc in Public Health, or to
follow one of the following streams: Environment and Health, Health Economics, Health
Promotion, Health Services Management, or Health Services Research. The Faculty also
jointly teaches MSc Public Health in Developing Countries and MSc Control of Infectious
Disease (with the Faculties of Infectious and Tropical Diseases and Epidemiology and
Population Health), and MSc Health Policy, Planning and Financing (jointly with LSE).
Master's courses are organized in a modular format across the whole School. One of the
growing areas of Faculty teaching is in the distance-based MSc in Public Health, introduced
in 2005/6. In the current year the Faculty is responsible for about 271 students on the MScs
mentioned above, and 545 distance based students. The Faculty has also reorganized and
expanded its research degree (MPhil/PhD; DrPH) training, and there are over 100 students
registered for a research degree.
JOB DESCRIPTION
Post:
Research Fellow in Medical Statistics
Responsible to:
Dr Antonio Gasparrini, Department of Social and Environmental Health
Research
Grade:
Research Fellow (Grade 6: £37,106 to £42,139)
RESPONSIBILITIES
Research
Carry out statistical analyses in sub-projects within the MCC collaboration, and other projects
led by the line manager (Dr Antonio Gasparrini);
Support the update and further development of statistical software used in epidemiological
analyses within the MCC-collaborative project and other projects led by the line manager;
Contribute to provide appropriate statistical advice within the department, in the
development, analysis, and writing up phases of research, and in the preparation of grant
applications, under the guidance of the line manager;
Organise the collection, cleaning and management of the data gathered through the MCC
collaborative network;
Contribute to the development of new research ideas and grant applications in the areas of
interest to the line manager;
Contribute to, and when appropriate lead on, the planning and writing up of scientific papers
for publication in peer-reviewed international journals.
Teaching
Participate to the teaching programme of LSHTM up to a maximum of 15% of available time.
Scholarship
Communicate research findings through international and national congresses, and engage
with researchers and public health practitioners working in the field;
Continue to develop scientific and teaching skills.
Citizenship
Contribute to activities that will help to achieve the Department’s objectives;
Contribute to the life of the Department, Faculty and the School;
Provide and update quarterly a personal page on the School’s website.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
Essential Criteria
MSc in statistics, epidemiology or related subjects;
Publication record and professional experience in biomedical research;
Expertise in collecting and managing complex data sets;
Theoretical and practical knowledge of advanced statistical methods, such as regression
techniques, statistical modelling, smoothing methods, and meta-analysis;
Advanced computing skills in R;
Expertise in statistical programming with R;
Ability to work independently with periodic supervision and to use appropriate initiative;
Ability to work effectively in a multidisciplinary setting.
Desirable Criteria
Previous experience in environmental, cancer and/or clinical epidemiology;
Previous participation to international collaborative projects;
Advanced knowledge of study designs and statistical methods applied in time series and/or
cohort analysis;
Knowledge of distributed lag non-linear models and multivariate meta-analytical techniques;
Computing and programming skills in other statistical packages such as Stata, SAS,
WinBugs, MLwiN and Matlab;
Experience of collaboration in multidisciplinary research.
ACCOUNTABILITY
The post-holder will be responsible to Dr Antonio Gasparrini, as the grant holder, and
through him to the Head of the Department of Social and Environmental Health Research,
the Dean of the Faculty of Public Health & Policy and, ultimately, the Director of the School.
SALARY AND CONDITIONS OF APPOINTMENT
The post is offered as full time for a fixed period until 19th August 2018. Starting salary will be
on the Research Fellow scale, grade 6 (£37,106 to £42,139 pa inclusive of London
Weighting). The post will be subject to the LSHTM terms and conditions of service, including
membership of the Universities Superannuation Scheme.
ASYLUM AND IMMIGRATION
The School will comply with the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, which requires
all employees to provide documentary evidence of their legal right to work in this country prior to
commencing employment. Candidates will be required to bring their passport (and visa if
applicable) to interview so that it can be copied and verified.
Applications from candidates who require sponsorship to work in the UK will be considered
alongside other applications. Applicants who do not currently have the right to work in the UK
will have to satisfy UK Visas & Immigration regulations before they can be appointed.
Further information about Certificate of Sponsorship and eligibility to work in the UK, can be
found at: www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/employers/points