LONDON SCHOOL OF HYGIENE & TROPICAL MEDICINE
(University of London)
FACULTY OF EPIDEMIOLOGY AND POPULATION HEALTH
DEPARTMENT OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE EPIDEMIOLOGY
Karonga Prevention Study Programme
Administrator
FURTHER PARTICULARS
SCHOOL
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is one of Europe’s leading schools of
Public Health and a leading postgraduate institution worldwide for research and postgraduate
education in global health.
Part of the University of London, the London School is the largest institution of its kind in
Europe with a remarkable depth and breadth of expertise encompassing many disciplines. The
School was ranked one of the top 3 research institutions in the country in the Times Higher
Education’s 'table of excellence', which is based on the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise
(RAE). In 2009, the School became the first UK institution to win the Gates Award for Global
Health.
The School’s environment is a rich multicultural one: there are around 3500 students from
100+ countries following 24 taught masters courses delivered either in London or through
distance learning, and about 400 undertaking a research degree. Over 40% of these students
are from non-European countries. Alumni are working in more than 180 countries. The School
has about 1600 staff drawn from over 74 nationalities.
There are research collaborations with over 100 countries throughout the world, utilizing our
critical mass of multidisciplinary expertise which includes clinicians, epidemiologists,
statisticians, social scientists, economists, molecular biologists, immunologists,
ophthalmologists, anthropologists, virologists, pharmacologists and nutritionists. At any one
time around 100 School staff are based overseas, particularly in Africa and Asia. We have a
strong commitment to partnership with institutions in low and middle income countries to
support the development of teaching and research capacity.
The School has expanded greatly in recent years. Its research funding now exceeds £67M per
annum, much of it from highly competitive national and international sources. The commitment
of staff to methodological rigour, innovative thinking and policy relevance will ensure that the
School continues to occupy a leadership position in national and global health, adapting
quickly to new challenges and opportunities.
Mission
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.
THE FACULTY
The Faculty of Epidemiology & Population Health (EPH) houses a large group of
epidemiologists, demographers, statisticians and nutritionists working on issues of major public
health importance in the UK and globally. EPH has approximately 330 staff members
organised into four research departments.
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Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Department of Medical Statistics
Department of Non-communicable Disease Epidemiology
Department of Population Health
The Faculty has a teaching programme consisting of ten MSc courses: Epidemiology,
Demography and Health, Medical Statistics, Public Health in Developing Countries (run jointly
with the Faculties of Infectious & Tropical Diseases and Public Health & Policy), Nutrition for
Global Health, Reproductive & Sexual Health Research, Veterinary Epidemiology (run jointly
with the Royal Veterinary College), Global Mental Health (run jointly with Kings College
London - Institute of Psychiatry) and the Distance Learning courses in Epidemiology and
Clinical Trials. The Faculty also has approximately 149 research students studying for an
MPhil, PhD or DrPH degree.
The Dean of Faculty is Professor John Edmunds.
THE DEPARTMENT
The Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology (Head: Professor Carine Ronsmans) has
over 80 academic staff who conduct research on the epidemiology and control of infectious
diseases of public health importance. Work is carried out both in developing countries and in
industrialized countries including the United Kingdom. Research ranges from ecological
studies of variations in disease frequency in different populations, through observational casecontrol and cohort studies to define risk factors for disease, to randomised controlled trials to
test the impact of specific preventive and curative interventions.
The Department has major field research programmes in Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, Ghana,
Brazil and Europe and numerous collaborative projects in other countries in Africa, Asia and
Latin America. Major interests are in the epidemiology and control of HIV and other sexually
transmitted diseases, tuberculosis and other mycobacteria, malaria and other tropical
parasites, hepatitis, measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases, respiratory diseases
and gastro-intestinal infections. The Department is home to the MRC-funded Tropical
Epidemiology Group, and a large research programme on maternal and perinatal health. The
Department includes both medical and statistical epidemiologists, and there is considerable
interest in methodological work, including research on statistical methods, transmission
models, genetic epidemiology and immune-epidemiology. There are strong collaborative links
with other Departments across all three Faculties, including with the Clinical Research and
Immunology Departments.
The Department has an active research degree training programme, with over 40 PhD
students. Faculty includes both medical and statistical epidemiologists, and there is
considerable interest in methodological work, including research on statistical methodology,
transmission models and genetic epidemiology.
THE KARONGA PREVENTION STUDY (KPS)
Over the last 30 years the Karonga Prevention Study, based in Karonga District, northern
Malawi has made major contributions to the understanding and control of mycobacterial
disease, HIV and other infectious diseases. In 2012 we established a new site in Lilongwe, and
have started a major programme of work on cardiovascular disease and diabetes. To reflect
our expanded focus we are changing our name to the Malawi Epidemiology and
Intervention Research Unit (MEIRU).
MEIRU is a partnership between the Malawi College of Medicine, the London School of
Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and the Malawi Ministry of Health. Since August
2013 the Programme has been led by Moffat Nyirenda (Professor of Medicine (Global NonCommunicable Diseases)) at LSHTM and Professor of Research at the Malawi College of
Medicine), with Dr Mia Crampin (deputy director), Prof Shabbar Jaffar, Prof Judith Glynn, Prof
Basia Zaba (all LSHTM) and Dr Charles Mwansambo, the Ministry of Health, Malawi.
Our research programme started in 1979 to study the incidence and risk factors of leprosy,
funded by the British Leprosy Relief Association (LEPRA). We have been predominantly
funded by the Wellcome Trust since 1996, with additional funding from many other sources for
specific projects.
Over the years, the research focus has been on tuberculosis, demography and HIV/AIDS with
field activities based in Karonga District where the programme has a long-term and detailed
understanding of demography and infectious disease epidemiology. Our database links work
over time and activity and includes data on more than 300,000 individuals. We have a
biorepository of over 100,000 samples and continuous demographic surveillance system
(DSS) in a sub-population of 35,000.
We have a long record of classical and molecular epidemiological studies, trials, and work on
vaccines, strengthened by our proven ability to identify people reliably and trace them and their
spouses and relatives over decades; and by strong local community support and trust, built on
the project’s role in the elimination of leprosy from the district and the control of TB.
THE POST
JOB DESCRIPTION
Post:
KPS Programme Administrator, London
Grade:
PSP Grade 4
Responsible to:
Prof Judith Glynn, based in London
Yoryos Ponnighaus, Programme Manager, based in Malawi
The post-holder will be employed as a staff member of the London School of Hygiene and
Tropical Medicine within the Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health, in the Department
of Infectious Disease Epidemiology (IDE).
The post-holder will be expected to provide excellent administration of the grants and the
activities within the Karonga Prevention Study (KPS).
S/he will be based in London and will work with the Programme Manager in Malawi who is
responsible for the management of the KPS programme grants. S/he should be highly
organized, pro-active and able to work without close supervision.
The post-holder will be expected to undertake the following:
Grants administration
In conjunction with the Research Operations Office, as appropriate:
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To provide assistance to the KPS Director and the Programme Manager in Malawi for
preparing grant proposals, particularly costing and budgets, and for setting up new
grants at LSHTM;
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To keep records of the KPS grants, including award and financial documentation;
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To process invoices and reimbursements and to keep records of incurred expenses by
grants.
Procurement and Shipment
In conjunction with the Procurement department, as appropriate:
 To coordinate ordering of laboratory and non-laboratory supplies with the KPS team in
Malawi, clarifying product specification, quantities and transportation requirements;
 To process purchase orders and keep updated record of all orders;
 To coordinate the delivery of supplies with the shipping agent and keep the KPS team in
Malawi informed about progress;
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To organize shipments on a quarterly basis collaborating with the shipping agent and
the KPS office in Malawi;
To establish and maintain relationship with suppliers and shipping companies as
necessary;
To check and process invoices related to orders and shipments.
General administration
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To make arrangements for staff travel and for meetings and to keep an updated
calendar;
To update the programme web-page using the content management system;
To assist the KPS Director/Programme Manager with the recruitment of new staff and
the
extension of staff contracts, in conjunction with the Department
Administrator/Faculty Administrator as appropriate;
To maintain data files (eg logging and entry of tuberculosis laboratory reports and
biopsy results) and feed back to the scientific team in Malawi;
To provide support, guidance and advice to international students connected with the
KPS Programme, in conjunction with the Faculty Research Degree Administrator
Provide administrative support for KPS Programme meetings, including producing
minutes
To become familiar with School and Department procedures and ensure that these are
adhered to at all times;
To serve as a liaison with LSHTM departments and funding institutions as appropriate;
To respond to requests from the Department and Faculty Administrators on
administrative matters
To provide cover for administrative colleagues in IDE as appropriate
To take on other reasonable duties or responsibilities assigned by the KPS Director.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
Essential skills and experience
 Proven relevant administrative experience in an academic institution or similar
environment;
 Excellent proven organizational skills and attention to detail
 Advanced knowledge of Windows-based software including Word and Excel;
 Very good verbal and written communication skills in English;
 Excellent interpersonal skills, including a proven ability to establish and maintain
effective working relationships with individuals from different backgrounds and cultures;
 A proven ability to work on his/her own initiative, including an ability to know when to
confer with colleagues and/or refer matters on.
 Experience with grants administration and costing.
Desirable skills and experience
 Experience of organizing meetings and international travel;
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Experience with procurement and organizing shipments;
Proven experience of maintaining web-pages and a good working knowledge of content
management systems;
Experience of working with developing countries, preferably Africa;
SALARY AND CONDITIONS OF APPOINTMENT
The appointment is available from 11th August 2014 and is currently funded until 31st July 2016
with the possibility of extension. The appointment will be made on LSHTM’s Professional
Support Pathway Grade 4 with a starting salary of £27,142. The post will be subject to the
LSHTM terms and conditions of service. Membership of the SAUL Pension Scheme is
available.
APPLICATIONS
Applications should be made on-line at our website at jobs.lshtm.ac.uk. The closing date is
10pm, Thursday 05 June 2014, and the reference for this post is KPSH01. Online applications
will be accepted by the automated system until midnight on of the closing date. Any queries
regarding the application process may be addressed to jobs@lshtm.ac.uk or telephone 0207
927 2668.
The supporting statement section should set out how your qualifications, experience and
training meet each of the selection criteria. Please provide one or more paragraphs addressing
each criterion. The supporting statement is an essential part of the selection process and thus
a failure to provide this information will mean that the application will not be considered. An
answer to any of the criteria such as "Please see attached CV" will not be considered
acceptable. Please note that if you are shortlisted and are unable to attend on the interview
date it may not be possible to offer you an alternative date.
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.
For support staff vacancies, it is not likely that the School would be able to make a successful
application for a Certificate of Sponsorship. For this type of post, it is unlikely that we would be
able to appoint an individual who is not currently eligible to work in the UK.
Further information about Certificate of Sponsorship and eligibility to work in the UK, can be
found at: www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/employers/points
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is committed to being an equal
opportunities employer.