Post Title: Principal HIV/STI Scientist, Senior Trials Coordinator
Base: Health Protection Services, Colindale
Salary £43,202-£50,972 incl outer HCAS
Grade: 8a
Hours per week: 37.5
Job Type: 3 years in first instance
The Health Protection Agency exists to help protect the health of everyone in the United Kingdom; our ambition is to lead the way by identifying, preparing for and responding to health threats and setting standards for health protection.
The Agency was established as a special health authority in 2003. On 1 April 2005, the Agency was established as a non-departmental public body with radiation protection as part of health protection incorporated in its remit.
The HIV and STI Department is the national centre for surveillance of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in England and the UK. The Department is looking for a highly-motivated principal scientist to work on an exciting project involving evaluation of novel, rapid, point-of-care STI diagnostic technologies, and related research and surveillance activities. The project sits within the eSTI2 (Electronic Self-Testing Instruments for STIs; www.esti2.org.uk) Consortium.
eSTI2 is a major consortium of national research leaders in microbiology, statistics, epidemiology, clinical medicine, public health, microengineering and human technology interaction from the HPA, Brunel University, UCL, Queen Mary’s, University of London, Warwick University and led by St George’s, University of London (SGUL). SGUL’s mission is “to promote by excellence in teaching, clinical practice and research, the prevention, treatment and understanding of disease.” In research, SGUL is innovative and driven by high standards of excellence to advance healthcare. More information about St George’s can be found at www.sgul.ac.uk.
The Consortium aims to develop innovative mobile-phone and web-technology based micro-diagnostics for rapid, point-of-care STI testing in health care and eventually non-healthcare / community settings. The consortium is funded by a MRC/UKCRC Translational Infection Research Initiative, and aims to reduce the burden of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) by building capacity to develop, translate and adopt simple to use, rapid, accurate, affordable, polymicrobial mobile-phone networked micro-diagnostics to provide high risk populations with easier and more immediate access to STI diagnosis and treatment whilst potentiating more comprehensive and responsive surveillance.
This full-time post will involve the development, implementation and coordination of evaluations of novel rapid, point-of-care STI diagnostic technologies, and related research and surveillance activities, within GUMNet (a network of Genitourinary Medicine (GUM) clinics involved in sentinel public health monitoring and research). The postholder will be responsible for setting up, building and maintaining relationships between eSTI2 and GUMNet clinics and laboratories; developing the required ethical, regulatory, trial and microbiology protocols; and overseeing the execution of trials. He/she will create sustainable capacity for clinical trials of novel diagnostics. The postholder will also contribute to work investigating the clinical, public health and economic impacts of novel STI diagnostic pathways; and develop mechanisms for capture and integration of surveillance data to enable monitoring of the impact of these new systems on service use, care pathways and patient outcomes.
The job will involve close communication and working with microbiology, epidemiology, public health, clinical and other colleagues in the eSTI2 Consortium, and links with relevant eSTI2 commercial and industrial partners; as well as with a large number of other health professional groups both within the HPA and in external national and international organisations. The postholder will be expected to maintain a close working relationship with collaborators at SGUL where the successful candidate will be based for approximately one-day a week, depending on workload, and will work under the close guidance of the Consortium lead Dr Tariq Sadiq.
All applicants must hold a relevant basic science degree. A PhD or equivalent experience in public health, epidemiology, health promotion, health-care research or similar, is also required for this post. Training in research methods, infectious disease epidemiology, surveillance, prevention and/or public health is also required. Experience of developing, obtaining external project funds and managing projects, and with data management, interpretation, analysis and reporting, as well as excellent statistical and computing skills, are essential for this post. All applicants need to demonstrate the ability to work both as a team member and independently.
To apply, please visit http://www.hpa.org.uk/careers/
Post Reference: 919-HPS-MK-8537177
Closing date: 20 June 2012
The Health Protection Agency promotes diversity in the workplace and is an equal opportunities employer