Applications are invited for a mathematical modeller to join the Centre for the Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). The post holder will work on a project studying transmission of emerging infections, and design of vaccine trials during outbreaks.

Emerging infectious diseases, including the priority pathogens identified by WHO and others, can cause outbreaks in populations. There is little information on the transmission dynamics of some of these infections, and consequently little understanding of how to evaluate vaccines in phase 3 efficacy trials, should vaccines become available.

This post involves design of transmission models for emerging diseases and fitting those models to available data. The post-holder will use transmission models to simulate and evaluate phase 3 vaccine trials for diseases under study. The post-holder will determine optimal trial designs and vaccination strategies for outbreaks of these diseases.

The work at LSHTM forms part of a collaborative project at Imperial, Oxford and Warwick, and it is expected that the post-holder will liaise and collaborate with colleagues at other institutions, including WHO.

The candidate will join a highly successful and supportive team at the forefront of vaccine modelling and evaluation, and will have scope to develop their own research within this field, in collaboration with colleagues at LSHTM and elsewhere. It is expected that the work will involve a range of original scientific work and requires a high degree of personal motivation.

The ideal candidate will hold a PhD in mathematical modelling, statistics, or a quantitative discipline with a substantial component on infectious disease transmission, have expertise using specialist mathematical or statistical packages, ideally C/C++ and R and also be familiar with statistical approaches for model fitting and inference (e.g. MCMC, particle filtering etc). The ideal candidate will have a publication record in the field of modelling or statistical analysis of infectious diseases. Experience of evaluating vaccines would be an advantage. Further particulars are included in the job description.

This post is full-time, based in London, available with immediate effect and funded until 31st March 2021.This appointment is on the Academic Pathway scale at G6 with a starting salary of £39,304 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.

Applications should be made on-line via our website at http://jobs.lshtm.ac.uk. Applications should also include the names and email contacts of 2 referees who can be contacted immediately if shortlisted. Online applications will be accepted by the automated system until 10pm of the closing date. Any queries regarding the application process may be addressed to jobs@lshtm.ac.uk. The reference for this post is EPH-IDE-2018-41.

The supporting statement section should set out how your qualifications, experience and training meet each of the selection criteria. Please provide one or more paragraphs addressing each criterion. The supporting statement is an essential part of the selection process and thus a failure to provide this information will mean that the application will not be considered. An answer to any of the criteria such as "Please see attached CV" will not be considered acceptable.

Please note that if you are shortlisted and are unable to attend on the interview date it may not be possible to offer you an alternative date