Postdoctoral Researcher

Postdoctoral position evaluating trial designs for a Lassa Fever vaccine at the Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, University of Oxford.

This is an exciting opportunity to join a team dedicated to developing a Lassa fever vaccine based on the ChAdOx platform that was the basis for successful Ebola and COVID-19 vaccines.

You will conduct modelling work to evaluate trial designs and the use of pathogen genomics to infer vaccine effectiveness on transmission that take into account the epidemiology of Lassa Fever. Modelling will include two different transmission patterns: recurrent spill-overs from the animal reservoir, and potentially large outbreaks of person-to-person transmission centred on hospital referral networks or in other close-contact populations.

The approach being used is multidisciplinary, combining viral genomics, bioinformatics, statistics, modelling, and statistical genetics. You will join a multidisciplinary team addressing different aims of this study and communicate with a wide variety of stakeholders involved in the project.

You will be an integral member of a multidisciplinary team led by Ben Cooper working on communicable diseases within the Centre for Global Health Research based at Oxford. Members of the group study the burden, dynamics and control of human infectious diseases using a diverse array of analytical approaches and epidemiological study designs. The post offers substantial opportunities for career development. You will work alongside another member working in Professor Christophe Fraser’s Pathogen Dynamics group on the same project.

It is essential that you hold a PhD/DPhil (or close to completion) in applied mathematics, statistics, epidemiology, public health or another relevant and related subject, together with sufficient specialist knowledge in epidemiology, biostatistics, modelling and pathogen dynamics to work within established research programmes. You will have excellent written communication skills, including the ability to write for publication, present research proposals and results, and the ability to manage own academic research and associated activities, and to work to deadlines.

Applications for this vacancy are to be made online and you will be required to upload a supporting statement and CV as part of your online application. Your supporting statement must explain how you meet each of the selection criteria for the post using examples of your skills and experience.

This position is offered full time on a fixed term contract for 3 years and is funded by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).

Only applications received before 12 midday on Tuesday 5 March 2023 will be considered. Please quote 168796 on all correspondence.