POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCH SCIENTIST (MADIVA)

The African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) is a premier research-to-policy institution, generating evidence, strengthening research and related capacity in the African research and development ecosystem, and engaging policy to inform action on health and development. APHRC seeks to drive change by developing strong African research leadership and promoting evidence-informed decision-making (EIDM) across sub-Saharan Africa.

The MADIVA (Multi-morbidity Action through Data Insights and Visualization for Africa) project aims to develop data science techniques and solutions to tackle the problem of multimorbidity in Africa – the problem of multiple co-occurring diseases significantly adding to the health burden in Africa. Our primary research sites in urban Nairobi, Kenya and rural Bushbuckridge, South Africa each have rich data sets from longitudinal studies collected by the health and demographic surveillance systems based there, together with a nascent set of clinical health records and genomic data. We will develop and apply data science techniques to link the different data sets, build dashboards for different stakeholders and apply new machine learning techniques to automatically stratify populations for risk profiles to different diseases, including the use of polygenic risk scores.

APHRC is seeking to recruit a Post-Doctoral Research Scientist to support and maintain the productivity and research output of MADIVA and other projects in the Chronic Diseases Management Unit of the Health and Wellbeing Theme.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Contribute to the development of APHRC’s evidence use agenda through utility of data science and/or artificial intelligence tools including data mining, development of data visualization tools, and statistical modelling among others.
• Contribute to the application of innovative analytics to systematically extract information from data sets that are too large/complex to be dealt with by traditional approaches.
• Contribute to the development of APHRC’s evidence use agenda through utility of data science and/or artificial intelligence tools including data mining, development of data visualization tools, and statistical modelling, among others.
• Assists in managing projects efficiently and contribute to fundraising efforts through proposal development, securing grants, and building partnerships to support APHRC’s research and impact goals.
• Be responsible for, and coordinate the processes of tracking, collating, organizing, and making available population health data from diverse sources.
• Lead the development of study protocols and tools and ensure ethical approvals and research permits are obtained.
• Secure and manage the necessary human, financial and material resources of the project.
• Lead the development of project reports.
• Oversee data quality and analyses.
• Contribute to proposal development and fundraising for research projects in the unit.
• Mentor junior researchers and facilitate the Center’s training programs as needed.
• Represent the Center at high-level national, regional, and international forums, including relevant technical working groups and expert committees.
• Contribute to the development of information systems and provision of analytical methodological support and advice to researchers.
• Define own area of research interest in data science/statistics/public health through developing proposals, concept notes, and publishing in the area.
• Contribute to institutional publications including but not limited to lay dissemination materials such as policy/research briefs and fact sheets; and contribute to policy engagement and the unit’s strategic planning.

Qualifications and Experience:

• PhD in Statistics, Data Science, Biostatistics, Health Informatics or equivalent in related disciplines with a specialization in R; graduated in the last 2 years.
• Data management, programming and modelling experience.
• Demonstrated experience in applying big data analytics, preferably in healthcare.
• Evidence of publications is an essential requirement.
• Highly motivated and committed to biomedical research.
• Interest in Epidemiology and preferably chronic diseases including multimorbidity.

Interested candidates are invited to submit their application in English through MADIVA Postdoc Researcher, and include:

1. A letter of application;
2. A statement of research interests and goals (1-2 pages); and
3. CV with contact details of three referees

Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until the position is filled.  Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Shortlisted candidates will be required to have a Police Clearance Certificate.

Special Notice

APHRC is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. All employment decisions are made on the basis of qualifications and organizational needs. Reasonable accommodation may be provided to applicants with disabilities upon request, to support their participation in the recruitment process.