Research Fellow in Machine (Statistical) Learning and Epidemiology
Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Salary: £38,533 to £43,759 per annum, inclusive.
Closing Date: Wednesday 21 March 2018
Reference: EPH-IDE-2018-11

Applications are invited for a statistician / data analyst with training and experience in machine learning (statistical learning) to join the Department Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). The post-holder will be funded initially for 3 years through a Sir Henry Dale Wellcome Trust Fellowship awarded to Dr Stefan Flasche. The research on this project will be highly interdisciplinary involving collaborations with epidemiologists, statisticians and mathematical modelers from the UK (LSHTM), Belgium (Hasselt University), the US (Johns Hopkins University), Vietnam (Pasteur Institute), Japan (Nagasaki University) and Australia (MCRI).

The project is an exciting opportunity to combine epidemiological evidence from complex data sources via advanced statistical methodology into an improved global pneumococcal vaccination strategy. The post-holder will be responsible for exploring drivers of pneumococcal epidemiology from extensive global databases of pneumococcal colonization and disease studies. The outcomes will need to be combined into a mathematical / statistical framework to inform on optimal serotype targeting for pneumococcal vaccines.

The postholder will be supervised by Dr Stefan Flasche (LSHTM) and Professor Niel Hens (Hasselt University) and will join a highly successful and supportive, group of quantitative epidemiologists at LSHTM with a strong public health focus. The postholder will also have considerable scope to develop her/his own research within the field. It is expected, that the project will involve a range of complex and original scientific research questions that require a high degree of personal motivation.

The successful applicant will have a PhD in statistics, applied mathematics, epidemiology or another relevant discipline with a strong quantitative component. Candidates should be able to demonstrate experience in machine (statistical) learning. Additionally, experience in the fields of in mathematical modelling and/or epidemiology, preferably in infectious diseases is desirable. Further particulars are included in the attached job description.

The post is based in London and is funded until December 2020. The salary will be on the Academic scale, Grade 6 scale in the range £38,533 - £43,759 per annum (inclusive of London Weighting). The post will be subject to the LSHTM terms and conditions of service. Annual leave entitlement is 30 working days per year, pro rata for part time staff. In addition to this there are discretionary “Director’s Days”. Membership of the Pension Scheme is available.

For questions please contact me (Stefan.Flasche@lshtm.ac.uk)