Project Description:
The project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation aims to develop novel approaches for integrating multiple data to evaluate measles risk a the national and sub-national scale. Targeted measles vaccination strategies will direct resources to areas or populations at high risk of outbreaks. Targeting, however, must be predicated on evidence and countries, and regions, with poor vaccine program performance, have also had poor quality surveillance and coverage data for informing interventions. This project seeks to leverage the strengths of surveillance-based indicators to estimate risk and vaccine program performance, and track elimination progress by combining these with a broad range of additional data sources. The project is co-awarded to Matt Ferrari at Pennsylvania State University, Jess Metcalf at Princeton University, and Amy Winter at the University of Georgia. Expected project outputs are in the form of peer-reviewed published papers in addition to direct engagement with stakeholders regarding the implications of the research.

Job Description:
We are seeking an individual to develop novel strategies for characterizing measles elimination progress. This work builds from published work describing a canonical path to measles elimination. The job will require a broad set of quantitative skills to i) evaluate links between measles surveillance and program-based indicators and ii) develop and validate new empirical and theoretical approaches for characterizing elimination progress across spatial scales. Individuals will have the opportunity to work with a broad range of data sources (e.g., epidemiological, serological, mobility, demographic) and to expand or hone their empirical and mathematical modeling skills. Successful candidates will also engage with the foundational theory of infectious disease dynamics that drive our understanding of elimination. Beyond its public health importance, measles provides an ideal empirical and theoretical test bed for exploring nonlinear population interactions and questions of elimination.

Annual salary: Depending on post-doctoral years of experience ($52,000 - $58,000 USD)

Location: Given current travel restrictions, there is flexibility in a physical location in the near term.

Mentorship: Candidates will be mentored primarily by Amy Winter with the opportunity to work directly with Matt Ferrari and Jess Metcalf as well. Dr. Winter takes an individual-centered approach to mentoring based on the career goals and mentorship needs of each individual.

Person specifications:

• Research experience of working with mathematical and/or statistical models
• A strong interest in infectious disease epidemiology
• Ability to collate and analyze data, interpret and present results to a high standard using a range of specialized research techniques
• Good knowledge of R or Python
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Experience in communicating research findings to a non-specialist audience
• Ability to work independently but also engage with a larger interdisciplinary research team
• PhD in one of the following areas: epidemiology, statistics, biostatistics, physics, computer science, or a similarly quantitative discipline

Application process: Interested candidates should email Amy Winter (awinter@uga.edu) with a CV and statement of interest. The original search will close on 1 November 2021. If the position is not filled, application materials will be evaluated on a rolling basis until the position is filled.