Doctoral/ Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at Aga Khan University (AKU)

Introduction

Chartered in 1983, Aga Khan University (AKU, www.aku.edu) is a private, autonomous and self-governing international university, with 13 teaching sites in 6 countries over three continents. An integral part of the Aga Khan Development Network (www.akdn.org), AKU provides higher education in multiple health science and social science disciplines, carries out research pertinent primarily to low- and middle-income countries and operates 7 hospitals (soon 8) and over 325 outreach clinics, all at international standards. It has almost 2,500 students and 14,000 staff. The University is both a model of academic excellence and an agent of social change. As a leading international institution dedicated to excellence and change, AKU operates on the core principles of quality, relevance, impact and access.

Job Summary

The Medical College, East Africa is at the forefront of building a new academic community, providing outstanding health professional education, building strong programmes of research that support graduate students and postdoctoral training, as well as offering programmes and services that are relevant to and have an impact across East Africa. The Medical College, East Africa works closely with the School of Nursing and Midwifery, as well as the Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi and the Aga Khan Hospital in Dar-es-Salaam, to build a strong academic community that provides outstanding education, builds strong research programmes that support graduate and postdoctoral training and programmes and services that are relevant to and have an impact across East Africa.
The Post–Doctoral Research Fellow on Covid-19 assignment will work closely with faculty to generate manuscripts based on ongoing work on COVID-19 at AKU Medical College East Africa, and provide research support to a team of faculty researchers. Expected outputs include manuscripts for publication, and grant proposals to examine aspects of Infectious Disease and COVID-19 under faculty supervision

Responsibilities

1. Identification and collation of COVID -19 data and information collected by different hospital departments, units and individuals
2. Review and cleaning of Covid-19 data to tease out potentially publishable material
3. Supporting pre-identified research teams in synthesis of data in format readily amenable to interrogation by scientific manuscript preparation research teams.
4. Work with research teams to raise research questions and drafting of concept notes and proposals for ethics approval or exemption
5. Take leading role in drafting of manuscripts for submission to peer review journals
6. Maintain inventory of AKUHN past and ongoing covid-19 related research work.
7. Contribute to writing of new research grants in Infectious diseases with priority on COVID-19
8. Participate in recruitment, training and mentorship of research assistants
9. Promote multi-disciplinary and cross department/entity collaboration

Requirements

Educational qualifications

1. Preferably, a doctoral degree in social, health sciences or a related field of relevance to advancement of knowledge in Infectious Diseases.
2. Holders of MSc in Infectious diseases with scientific publication track record in their final stage of PhD completion.

Relevant Experience

1. Track record of publication in the peer-reviewed journals and experience in grant-writing
2. Demonstrated strong interest and experience in the field of Infectious Diseases
3. Competence in use of quantitative statistical softwares. Use of qualitative software use by quantitative researchers (and vice-versa) would offer advantage
4. Demonstrable experience of supervision and mentorship members of researcher teams

Personal characteristics & Behaviour

1. Strong passion for scientific research
2. Ability to work both as an independent researcher as well as part of a cross-functional research team.
3. Good leadership skills and competency to manage teams
4. Excellent interpersonal skills and communication skills and a meticulous approach to documentation
5. Ability to work with minimal supervision and meet tight deadlines