Fully funded Postdoctoral positions under the Global Health Research Centre

Last date of application: 25 Sep 2023

Institution: Public Health Foundation of India

Duration: Two years

Start date: October 15, 2023

Overview

The National Institute for Health and Care Research has awarded funding tothe Public Health Foundation of India and the University of Leicester to establish a Global Health Research Centre for Multiple Long-Term Conditions (MLTCs). MLTCs are commonly defined as the co-existence of two or more long term conditions, each of which is a long-term physical (e.g., diabetes), mental (e.g., depression) or an infectious disease (hepatitis C). According to recent community surveys from India, the prevalence of MLTCs ranges from 9.4% to 65%. Age, female gender, lower socioeconomic status, and physical inactivity are the main risk factors for MLTCs.Despite its growing burden, MLTCs have received minimal recognition from healthcare providers and policymakers. Health systems are still focused on individual disease management rather than having an integrated care model, resulting in the delivery of fragmented and inefficient care. The Centre aims to address some of these issues via co-designing, implementing, and evaluating a patient-centred health system intervention comprising a decision support system, assisted telemedicine and patient-facingmobile application.

The fully funded two-year postdoctoral positions will be embedded within the Centre. The selected candidates will work full-time with the Centre investigators to conduct research.This may include (but is not limited to) formative research to develop the intervention, health system assessments, designing and implementing pilot cluster randomised controlled trial, full-scalecluster RCT, process evaluation of the trial,participatory action research etc. They will be paid a fellowship based on their credentials and will have ample opportunities to undertake short term trainings in the UK for professional development.

Basic qualification

PhD in public health, epidemiology, biostatistics, health systems research, behavioralscience, health economics or related disciplines or MD in Public Health/Community Medicine/Clinical subjects with interest and commitment to building a research career.

Skills and competencies

• Highly motivated with an eye for detail
• Strong technical skills with the breadth of knowledge and some in depth understanding of the area to be explored
• Proficient (or willingness to build skill) in using software for quantitative (Stata or R), qualitative (NVivo)or mixed methods analysis
• Track record of high-quality research (E.g., at least 2 publications in peer-reviewed journals)
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English and one local language where the work will be done
• Willingness and ability to work with teams and individually.

How to apply

Please email the following documents as one single PDF to surabhi.verma@phfi.org with a copy to smohan@phfi.org and Shifalika.goenka@phfi.org before September 25, 2023.

1. Curriculum vitae or bio-sketch
2. Statement of purpose (max 2-pages)
3. Two publications (if available where the candidate is the first author)
4. Name, address and email ID of two references

If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Surabhi Verma at surabhi.verma@phfi.org