Overview
The Johns Hopkins TB Modeling and Translational Epi Group (lead investigator: Dr. David Dowdy) is looking to add one or more highly talented postdoctoral fellows (PhD an/dor MD) to our research team. The postdoctoral fellow(s) will be integrated into multiple projects that involve modeling the diagnosis and transmission of infectious diseases, particularly tuberculosis (TB), both within the United States and in the global context. At least one fellow will be responsible for spearheading an effort to model integrated screening strategies for HIV, TB, viral hepatitis and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) across various clinical and non-clinical settings in the United States. The project will be conducted in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and is funded by the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention Epidemiologic and Economic Modeling Agreement (NEEMA, https://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/neema/index.html).

Our Team
We are a diverse, interdisciplinary, and collaborative team with interests that span field research (including transmission studies and clinical trials), epidemiologic methods, mechanistic modeling, health economics, and implementation science. Across these disciplines, our group seeks to both generate new knowledge and translate it into policy-relevant guidance. Based at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, our team includes faculty members, postdoctoral fellows, Masters and PhD students, full-time research staff, and many collaborative partners across the university and in more than 10 countries – most notably Uganda and South Africa. We have strong collaborative ties to the Johns Hopkins Center for Tuberculosis Research (http://tbcenter.jhu.edu/), a multidisciplinary group in the School of Medicine that is home to >20 tuberculosis-focused faculty including basic and translational scientists, epidemiologists, implementation scientists, and clinical trial investigators. We are also core members of the Uganda Tuberculosis Implementation Research Consortium (U-TIRC, https://www.u-tirc.org/), a multinational research consortium with numerous large studies evaluating the implementation of novel diagnostic tests, case-finding activities, and approaches to prevention for TB.

Fellowship Description
Our research team is accepting applications for a postdoctoral fellowship based in the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health under the joint mentorship of Dr. Sourya Shrestha and Dr. David Dowdy. The start date for these fellowships is flexible, but preference will be given to applicants who can start by June 1.

We are seeking one or more postodoctoral fellows with a background in epidemiology of infectious diseases and/or strong interest in applying quantitative methods to optimize screening for infectious diseases in both clinical and institutional settings, with a focus on historically disadvantaged populations. The fellow(s) will be mentored by Drs Shrestha and Dowdy, and will work closely with Dr. Lucia Cilloni, a postdoctoral fellow on the team. The fellow will be expected to be an integral part of our collaborative research team, contributing to analyses, publications, and products (e.g., presentations) for decision-makers, in both lead and supporting roles.

We envision this fellowship will also be flexible to accommodate the fellows’ individual strengths and interest, and the sources of funding will be molded to ensure flexibility. Successful fellows will help broaden our team’s horizons, enabling us to build new collaborations and explore new areas of research.

Other potential research topics include the following topics, in which our team is actively engaged:

• Models of TB outbreaks and the effectiveness of outbreak responses
  Ex.: incorporating genomic and cluster data from the CDC
• Models to guide TB interventions in high-burden settings
  Ex.: assessing the impact of interventions focused on vulnerable populations
• Models to guide decision-making at the local, national, and global levels
  Ex.: balancing considerations of cost, implementation, and impact to inform evidence-based policy regarding strategies to find, treat, and prevent TB and other infectious diseases

We value collection and incorporation of empiric data. As such, we will prioritize fellows who seek to engage in the process of collection and/or collation of novel data to inform the next generation of mechanistic models.
We anticipate that each fellow would serve as first author on multiple research projects and would apply for an independent research position by the end of the fellowship. First-year fellows will be offered an annual salary of $58,500, plus benefits including health insurance. This salary will be increased for fellows with additional experience and/or funding (or with any increases to NIH stipend levels). Further information on postdoctoral fellowships at Johns Hopkins can be found at http://www.jhsph.edu/academics/postdoctoral-training.

Applicants must have:

• A recent, or soon-to-be-awarded, PhD (or MD) degree in a relevant discipline
• Strong quantitative background, with demonstrated ability to program in one or more scientific programming languages, e.g. R, python, MATLAB, C++, etc.
• Demonstrated ability to lead modeling research, as well as strong communication and writing skills.
• Ability to work independently, function as part of a team that is highly collaborative, interdisciplinary, open-source-oriented, closely (and often electronically) connected, and committed to diversity.

Application Procedures
Interested applicants should submit the following to Dr. Dowdy at ddowdy1@jhmi.edu:

• cover letter describing research interests, career goals, and prior experience
• curriculum vitae
• contact information of 3 references (to be contacted only after first discussing with the applicant)

Given the urgent nature of our project, applications submitted by Jan 31, 2022 will be given priority. Interviews will be held in Feb-March 2022 and selections made shortly thereafter. However, given uncertainties related to the ongoing pandemic, we encourage applications regardless of precise timeline or current location, and we will work with qualified candidates to sort out hiring details and timelines.

Please contact Dr. Dowdy by email with any questions.