LONDON SCHOOL OF HYGIENE & TROPICAL MEDICINE
(University of London)
FACULTY OF INFECTIOUS AND TROPICAL DISEASES
DEPARTMENT OF DISEASE CONTROL
IDEAS OVERSEAS RESEARCH FELLOW IN EPIDEMIOLOGY / SOCIAL SCIENCE /
DEMOGRAPHY - INDIA
FURTHER PARTICULARS
1. ADVERTISEMENT
IDEAS OVERSEAS RESEARCH FELLOW IN EPIDEMIOLOGY / SOCIAL SCIENCE /
DEMOGRAPHY - INDIA
Every year, nearly 4 million mothers and newborns continue to die, most from preventable or
treatable causes. The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is seeking three
overseas Research Fellows (to be based in India, Ethiopia and Nigeria respectively) for the
IDEAS (Informed Decisions for Actions to improve Maternal and Newborn Health) project,
which is designed to provide a better evidence base to guide future maternal and newborn
health programmes.
Between 2010 and 2015, IDEAS will work in partnership with innovative projects funded by
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in three areas that suffer a high burden of maternal and
newborn deaths: Uttar Pradesh in India, Ethiopia and North-Eastern Nigeria.
Three IDEAS Overseas Research Fellows, based in India, Ethiopia and Nigeria, are being
appointed to take day-to-day responsibility for the management and co-ordination of the
IDEAS project in-country. This advertisement is for the Research Fellow post based in India.
The post holder’s work in India will include: supporting planning and execution of qualitative
and quantitative data collection and analysis; coordinating the development of a District
Evaluation Platform; coordinating the IDEAS Technical Resource Centre; and disseminating
key learnings from the project.
The post holder will work closely with members of the IDEAS team in London, the other
overseas Research Fellows, staff from the MLE Partner institution with which they are based
and a range of Gates-funded implementation project grantees. The post-holder will have a
dual reporting relationship, reporting both to the IDEAS Scientific Co-ordinator, and the
Principal Investigator of the in-country MLE Partner.
The post is a full-time appointment until November 2015 and the salary is on the Academic
Pathway Salary scale 6 from £32,025 to £36,863 per annum inclusive. Additional overseas
allowances and benefits will be provided as appropriate.
Applications should be made on-line via our website at http://jobs.lshtm.ac.uk. The
reference for this post is IDEAS-RFI. Applications should include the names and email
contacts of 2 referees who can be contacted immediately if shortlisted. Any queries
regarding the application process may be addressed to jobs@lshtm.ac.uk. The closing date
for this post is 2 January 2012.
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is committed to being an equal
opportunities employer
2.
GENERAL INFORMATION
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
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), ahead of the London School of Economics, Oxford, Imperial and University
College, London. The institution also achieved the largest increase in ranking compared with
2001, of any of the top 10 institutions in the RAE rankings. 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 almost 4000 students from
100+ countries following 22 taught masters courses delivered either in London (~650) or
through distance learning (~2700), and undertaking research degree training (~400). Over
40% of these students are from non-European countries. The largest growth has been in
distance learning students (>40% over 3 years), though the London-based student
population (where accommodation limits growth) is at its highest level ever. Alumni are
working in more than 180 countries. The School has about 1400 staff drawn from over 60
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, 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 m£62.4
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
The School's mission is to contribute to the improvement of health worldwide through
the pursuit of excellence in research, postgraduate teaching and advanced training in
national and international public health and tropical medicine, and through informing
policy and practice in these areas."
Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases
The Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases encompasses all of the laboratory-based
research in the School as well as that on the clinical and epidemiological aspects of
infectious and tropical diseases. It is headed by Simon Croft, who is Professor of
Parasitology. The range of disciplines represented in the faculty is very broad and inter-
disciplinary research is a feature of much of our activity. The spectrum of diseases studied
is wide and there are major research groups with a focus on malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS
and other sexually transmitted diseases, vaccine development and evaluation, and vector
biology and disease control. The Faculty is organised into four large research departments
comprising: Pathogen Molecular Biology, Immunology and Infection, Disease Control, and
Clinical Research. There is close interaction between scientists in different research teams.
The Faculty has strong overseas links, which provide a basis for field studies and
international collaborations in developed and developing countries.
The teaching
programme includes MSc courses, taught in-house and by distance learning, which are
modular in structure, a variety of short-courses and an active doctoral programme (PhD and
DrPH).
Department of Disease Control (Head: Dr Mark Rowland)
This multidisciplinary Department includes epidemiologists, entomologists, anthropologists
and social scientists, clinical scientists, public health engineers, and geographers. This
range of expertise provides us with a battery of tools for focusing on the control of diseases
that are insect-borne, water-borne or associated with poor hygiene – mostly in developing
countries. Much of the research can be categorised as: evaluating disease control
interventions; investigating implementation strategies - including working with the private
sector; understanding the factors underlying household behaviour in relation to family health;
or determining how control resources can be targeted most efficiently. Particular attention is
paid to research directed at current health policy issues, including the gap between policy
and practice. The DFID Resource Centre for Water and Environmental Health (WELL) and
the Hygiene Centre make up the Department’s Environmental Health Group, which plays a
leadership role in research and operational support for hygiene promotion, water supply and
sanitation. The Department also houses the largest research group in LSHTM working on
malaria control, including the DIFD Team for Applied Research to Generate Effective Tools
and Strategies for communicable disease control (TARGETs) and the Malaria Capacity
Development Consortium (MCDC). The Department’s valuable mosquito colonies are used
for testing repellent products and insecticides in the laboratory. The Department also
includes a major grouping of researchers using spatial analysis in public health.
Teaching
The School offers 22 one year full-time taught courses leading to the Master of Science
(MSc) degree of the University of London and the Diploma of the London School of Hygiene
and Tropical Medicine (DLSHTM). The Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases runs or
contributes substantially to ten of these courses and the “Immunology of Infectious
Diseases” course is run from within the Department of Immunology and Infection. In addition,
the Faculty is responsible for the three-month Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
(DTM&H) and offers a range of specialist short courses lasting usually one or two weeks.
Three MSc courses are also offered by Distance-based Learning, including one on Infectious
Diseases.
Teaching requirements
Research Fellows expected to spend up to 10% of their time each year contributing to the
postgraduate teaching programme.
Research Training
The School offers two doctoral training programmes. The MPhil/PhD degrees are designed
for those who wish to go on to a full time research career. The DrPH is directed towards
those who expect their careers to be more in the practice of public health.
IDEAS: Informed Decisions for Actions to improve Maternal and Newborn Health
The IDEAS project will provide evidence to guide decision making about future maternal and
newborn health programmes. Between 2010 and 2015, IDEAS will work in partnership with
innovative maternal and newborn projects funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in
three areas that suffer a high burden of maternal and newborn deaths: North-Eastern
Nigeria, Uttar Pradesh in India, and Ethiopia.
The long-term goal of the Maternal and Newborn Health strategy of the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation is to increase newborn and maternal survival in the three ‘focus geographies’ of
Ethiopia, North-East Nigeria, and Uttar Pradesh in a measurable way. The underlying theory
of change suggests that this goal will be achieved through increased coverage of
interventions along the continuum of care from pregnancy through childbirth and the
newborn period. The theory of change also suggests that increased coverage of
interventions will result from interactions between families and frontline workers being more,
better, efficient and equitable.
The IDEAS project will answer three learning questions which relate to three critical points in
the theory of change.
1 -- Are interactions between families and frontline workers more, better, efficient and
equitable, in the particular districts where implementation grantees are working?
2 -- Is there any evidence of the implementation grantees' intervention models being scaled
up across the entire focus geography? Why, or why not?
3 -- If there is evidence of scale-up, does this lead to coverage change and improved
newborn survival?
IDEAS will establish a Technical Resource Centre in late 2011 to enhance local capacity in
measurement, learning and evaluation for improved maternal and newborn health.
Existing and new data from each setting will be analysed for evidence of enhanced
interactions between families and front line workers and whether this leads to increased
intervention coverage. Further, new data will be collected through the development of a
District Evaluation Platform to investigate the extent of scale-up of health programmes for
mothers and newborns, and whether survival has improved as a result. Finally, IDEAS will
disseminate best practice in learning and measurement in maternal and newborn health and
promote evidence for effective decision-making.
In order to deliver the activities of the project, IDEAS will work closely with a measurement,
learning and evaluation (MLE) Partner in each focus geography. The partners will be
commissioned to design studies, gather and analyse qualitative and quantitative data to
inform answers to IDEAS learning questions and will work closely with members of IDEAS
staff.
3.
JOB DESCRIPTION
Post:
IDEAS OVERSEAS RESEARCH FELLOW - INDIA
Grade:
Academic Pathway Grade 6 – Research Fellow
Responsible to:
IDEAS Scientific Co-ordinator
Department:
Department of Disease Control
Start date:
ASAP
Main duties and responsibilities:
The Research Fellow will be hosted by a Measurement, Learning and Evaluation (MLE)
Partner institution in India. The post-holder will have a dual reporting relationship, reporting
both to the IDEAS Scientific Co-ordinator, and the Principal Investigator of the in-country
MLE Partner institution.
The main duties of the Research Fellow post will include:
1. Day-to-day management and co-ordination of the IDEAS project in India, including
liaison with Gates implementation grantees, MLE Partner host institution staff, and
key local and national stakeholders.
o To support planning and execution of qualitative and quantitative data
collection and analysis in key districts. This work will investigate interactions
between families and front line workers, and whether these lead to increased
maternal and newborn health intervention coverage;
o To coordinate the development of a District Evaluation Platform and related
qualitative work on scale-up of intervention models and whether these
improve maternal and newborn health intervention coverage and newborn
survival;
o To develop and disseminate best practices for learning and actionable
measurement in maternal and newborn health;
o In-country coordination of the IDEAS Technical Resource Centre
(strengthening capacity for measurement, learning and evaluation);
o To ensure activities are carried out in line with plans and budgets;
o To coordinate the reporting of progress and findings.
2. Through mentoring, to strengthen the capacity of MLE Partner host institution staff
and Gates implementation grantees in-country.
3. To contribute to the School’s postgraduate teaching programme through the distance
learning programme.
4. To contribute appropriately to the life of the MLE Partner host institution and to the
academic life of the LSHTM Department, Faculty and the School.
4.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
Essential characteristics
1. Doctoral degree in epidemiology, public health, social science, demography, or a
related discipline.
2. Considerable and demonstrable skills in epidemiology and social science.
3. Proven experience of health systems research in an African setting.
4. Experience of postgraduate teaching or mentoring research students.
5. Ability to work independently and as a member of a multidisciplinary scientific team.
6. Willingness to integrate into an in-country host institution and contribute
constructively to its functioning.
7. Willingness to live in India (Lucknow or Delhi).
8. Excellent written and oral communication skills in English.
Desirable characteristics
1. Masters degree in Public Health or a related subject, or equivalent experience.
2. A track record of good quality peer-reviewed publications.
3. Proficiency in spoken and written Hindi
4. Experience of living and working in India.
5.
SALARY AND CONDITIONS OF APPOINTMENT
The post is a full time appointment until November 2015 and the salary is on the Academic
Pathway Salary scale 6 from £32,025 to £36,863 per annum inclusive. Additional overseas
allowances and benefits will be provided as appropriate. Annual leave entitlement is 30
working days per year for all staff. In addition to this there are 6 fixed-date "Director's Days".
6.
APPLICATIONS
Applications should be made on-line via our website at http://jobs.lshtm.ac.uk The reference
for this post is IDEAS-RFI. Applications should also include the names and email contacts
of 2 referees who can be contacted immediately if shortlisted. Any queries regarding the
application process may be addressed to jobs@lshtm.ac.uk. Online applications will be
accepted by the automated system until midnight of the closing date.
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.
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is committed to being an equal
opportunities employer