PhD Student in Climate Change Epidemiology (R1)

Context And Mission

The Global Health Resilience (GHR) Team led by ICREA Research Professor Rachel Lowe at the BSC-CNS is seeking a highly motivated student for a PhD position in climate change epidemiology. The student will conduct methodological research on disentangling the impacts of global environmental change on infectious disease risk and developing impact-based forecasting models in collaboration with public health, disaster risk management, and humanitarian agencies.

The mission of GHR Team is to apply a transdisciplinary approach to co-designing policy-relevant methodological solutions, to enhance surveillance, preparedness and response to climate-sensitive disease outbreaks and health outcomes, and infectious disease emergence. The GHR Team is part of the Earth System Services Group (ESS) within the Earth Sciences Department, whose mission is to research the impact of weather, atmospheric chemistry, and climate upon socio-economic sectors, including renewable energy, agriculture, water management, forest fires, urban development and health and demonstrate the ongoing value of earth system services to society and the economy.

The PhD student, in collaboration with a multi-disciplinary team of scientists across Latin America & the Caribbean and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, will have the opportunity to develop new methodologies to address the global challenge of quantifying the risk of emerging disease threats to society. The selected candidate will develop infectious disease prediction models using open-source and stakeholder provided data at both global and local spatial scales. The candidate will tackle research questions related to the impact of land use and land change and extreme climatic events on infectious disease outcomes, including vector and water-borne diseases and other health outcomes in lower- and middle-income countries and across Europe, depending on the candidates experience and interests.

The studentship offers an interdisciplinary programme of professional training in Bayesian statistics, planetary health, meteorology, and epidemiology. Through a well-established network of collaborative partners, the student will have the chance to interact with experts in the field, international organisations and research institutions in Latin America & the Caribbean, Africa and South East Asia to gain an in-depth understanding of the compound risks of climate change and overlapping epidemics of infectious diseases and to develop solutions to help decision makers increase resilience to disease spread in the future.

Successful candidates will benefit from expert training and BSC-CNS staff benefits: international multidisciplinary scientific environment and advanced applied research training. We encourage applications from highly motivated candidates with demonstrated experience in data management, strong quantitative skills, and an interest in applied research within the context of climate change and infectious diseases.

Key Duties

• Collect and process Earth Observation, socio-economic and health data for use in model development
• Formulate statistical and mathematical models to understand the impact of environmental change and socio-economic factors on infectious disease risk and health outcomes.
• Develop indicators to track the impact of climate change on infectious disease risks and health outcomes
• Disseminate research outputs in peer-reviewed scientific papers and international conferences
• Contribute to policy reports and training activities for climate and health stakeholders