Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine s2

JOB DESCRIPTION

Post: Post-Doctoral Research Associate in Medical Statistics

Responsible to: Professor Duolao Wang

We have an exciting vacancy for a research fellow in Medical Statistics o work in the Tropical Clinical Trials Unit (tCTU) of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM). We are aiming to appoint an individual searching for a post-graduate research position, ideally with a post-doctoral or equivalent postgraduate training who would like to expand his/her expertise and experience in a dynamic research environment.

This is an exciting time to join LSTM and make a major contribution in the field. This post is core funded and is part of a broader recruitment drive to support the large expansion in clinical and public health trials at LSTM. We are advertising for 4 statisticians and 2 data managers to work alongside our two biostatistics professors.

LSTM provides a supportive, collegial environment with highly motivated researchers from different disciplines working together in partnership. We work on diseases that cause a high-burden in low and middle income countries, including HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, neglected and emerging tropical diseases and acute lower respiratory infections. We mostly conduct phase II/III clinical trials of new diagnostics, drug treatments and vaccines, and large-scale global health trials evaluating strategies of health care delivery. The trials are based in low-middle countries and are conducted in partnership with our collaborators overseas.

A selection of current LSTM trials include:

-  Phase II/III trials of interventions for the control of malaria in children and pregnant women (http://www.mip-consortium.org/)

-  A cluster randomised trial of clean stoves to prevent pneumonia in children (http://www.capstudy.org)

-  Clinical trials for pneumonia vaccines (http://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/5336)

-  Evaluating different novel health system approaches to increase the coverage of screening and treatment for tuberculosis.

-  A phase III randomised trial of drug-based strategies for the treatment of HIV-associated cryptococcal meningitis in Tanzania, Malawi, Cameroon and Zambia.

Working with the support of Professors and Senior Lecturers in statistics and epidemiology, the successful candidate will conduct analyses of data, contribute to the design of trials, the development of statistical methods and tools applicable to a broad range of clinical and laboratory-based research and develop an area of methodological research within the Unit.

He/she will operate in a stimulating environment comprising epidemiologists, clinical and basic scientists, fellow statisticians, and mathematicians based at LSTM and partner institutions worldwide. As our trials portfolio is both large and diverse, the post-holder will have flexibility in choosing the areas that interest him/her the most. He/she will also be encouraged to develop his/her own area of research interest or to focus on specific areas of work.

You will be supported to develop your skills in appropriate medical statistical techniques and methodologies, and to be an active member of a multi-disciplinary research team, with a view to become an established medical statistician.

LSTM

LSTM is a world renowned institution with a strong track record in high quality medical research, postgraduate training and technical assistance related to tropical countries. We have a research portfolio of over £250m, close to 400 staff and numerous postgraduate courses, from Diploma to PhD level. LSTM is a centre of excellence of international standing, as demonstrated in its 2014 Research Excellent Framework performance. Its portfolio of activities ranges from basic drug discovery through to large drug trials, health service research and research synthesis.

LSTM has important strategic partnerships, such as the Wellcome Trust Centre for Global Health Research Tropical Centre and the Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Clinical Research Programme and works in collaboration with other UK Universities including Liverpool, Warwick and Lancaster.

Summary of the Role:

The research fellow will be part of LSTM's Tropical Clinical Trials Unit. Working in multidisciplinary teams, you will focus in a specific area of methodological research akin to your interest and within the activities of the Unit. You will be expected to provide some input into the design of trials, their implementation and conduct (monitoring of ongoing safety and efficacy), analysis of data and reporting of findings, with technical support from senior staff in the Unit.

You will also be expected to provide statistical expertise to junior research staff in LSTM at post-doctoral or PhD level and there are opportunities to gain teaching qualifications. Your portfolio will include a wide range of public health trials evaluating different health care or disease control strategies. We work on a broad range of diseases affecting people in low resource settings, including HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, pneumonia, neglected tropical diseases and maternal and neonatal health, which provides ample opportunities to gain an insight into research in the tropics.

Responsibilities:

Main Duties/ Key Responsibilities:

To make contributions to LSTM research with an emphasis on developing your own research in a methodological area of medical statistics.

To contribute to the design, implementation and conduct of clinical trials and epidemiological studies of fellow post-doctoral fellows.

To participate in the analyses of data from clinical trials and related studies including in the monitoring of safety and efficacy data.

To contribute to papers for international journals, reporting the research findings.

To keep up to date with major developments in clinical trials design and analyses.

To undertake any other work considered appropriate by Head of the Tropical Clinical Trials Unit and the Head of the Department of Clinical Sciences.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

RESEARCH FELLOW IN MEDICAL STATISTICS

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