Graduate Jobs at International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)

About the position

Antimicrobials are essential medicines for human and animal health and welfare. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threatens global public and animal health, as well as economic and food security with low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) being disproportionately affected.  Both the World Health Organization and World Organization for Animal Health have developed a prioritized list of critically important antimicrobials for human and veterinary medicine, respectively. This ranking allows for focused management of specific antimicrobial classes to preserve their efficacy and to reduce the use of critically important human antimicrobials in food animals and crops. Colistin is considered one of the last resort drugs to treat infections with multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria, but this antibiotic is commonly used in livestock production for prophylaxis and growth promotion in LMICs.

Recent studies have estimated that more than half of the antimicrobials available on the African market are either substandard or counterfeit, raising concerns about ineffective treatment and exposure to sub‐therapeutic levels of antimicrobials, which has been shown to promote resistance amongst bacteria. Moreover, antimicrobials are distributed and accessed through informal, non-regulated supply chains, affecting traceability of these sub-standard drugs. To fill key knowledge gaps, this PhD will investigate the quality of selected antimicrobials sold in veterinary drugs stores in at least priority One CG One Health countries (e.g., Kenya, Bangladesh or Uganda), investigate policies and regulations governing importation, labelling and distribution of antimicrobials, and assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of various stakeholders in the antimicrobial supply chain. To answer these research questions, the candidate will use a combination of field epidemiology and laboratory techniques.

Responsibilities of the fellow:

• Conduct a literature review on antimicrobial drug quality in LMICs.
• Map the policy landscape around importation, labelling, distribution, and sale of veterinary antimicrobials in two priority LMICs.  
• Design a field and laboratory study to analyse the quality of selected antimicrobials sold for veterinary use.
• Conduct a survey on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of key stakeholders in the antimicrobial supply chain e.g., government officials, agrovet dealers, farmers, etc.
• Investigate if changes to antibiotic labelling influences customer purchasing habits.
• Write scientific papers and conference presentations on the results from the PhD studies
• Communicate findings to relevant stakeholders (government, extension officers, farmers, etc.)
• Provide supervision and guidance to field support staff and research assistants.

Minimum requirements for the ideal candidate

• MSc in Agricultural Economics, Veterinary Science, Animal Science, or Veterinary Public Health.
• An understanding of pharmacology, antimicrobial resistance, veterinary systems is advantageous.
• Previous research experience in intervention trials, economic evaluation and qualitative research methodologies is desirable.
• Experience in handling diverse datasets, data processing and statistical software such as R, Stata, SPSS, Matlab or Python.
• Ability to jointly work in a multi-national, multi-disciplinary team of scientists and technicians.
• Ability to supervise and guide research assistants and junior graduate students e.g., Bachelor or Masters level.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Based in Kenya full-time throughout the PhD programme with short research stays at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Location: ILRI – Kenya, with frequent in-country field travel and some travel abroad for fulfilment of PhD requirements at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Duration: 3 Years

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About the position

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threatens global health, economic and food security with low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) being disproportionately affected. Antimicrobial misuse and overuse is the major driver of emergence and selection of antimicrobial resistant bacteria. Poultry production in Kenya is common and increasing in intensity. This intensification favours the increased use of antimicrobials for growth promotion, prophylaxis and treatment.

Global, regional and national AMR plans have been developed and highlight numerous action areas to reduce AMR and preserve the efficacy of existing drugs and revolve around optimised or prudent use and prevent transmission. However, particularly in LMICs there is little to no information on the cost and/or effectiveness of the intervention to reduce antimicrobial use and the burden of AMR on farms. This PhD aims to address various knowledge gaps by 1) evaluating on-farm poultry production practices to determine behaviours that drive antimicrobial use (AMU) and how these contribute to the selection of AMR; and 2) design and test interventions to reduce AMU; and 3) analyse the costs and benefits of the tested interventions. To answer the various research questions, the candidate will utilise field epidemiology, statistical and economic modelling techniques.

Responsibilities of the fellow:

• Map the socio-economic context of antimicrobial use among semi-intensive poultry farmers in Kenya.
• Design and implement an on-farm trial to investigate the efficacy of interventions aimed at reducing antimicrobial use in study farms.
• Quantify and model antimicrobial use and drivers of use in the study farms.
• Model the economic impacts of tested interventions on farmers’ profits and greater societal benefits.
• Write scientific papers and conference presentations on the results from the PhD studies.
• Communicate findings to relevant stakeholders (government, extension officers, farmers, etc.).
• Provide supervision and guidance to field support staff and research assistants.

Minimum requirements for the ideal candidate:

• MSc in Agricultural Economics, Veterinary Science, Animal Science, or Veterinary Public Health.
• Previous research experience in field intervention trials, economic evaluations, and/or qualitative research methodologies is desirable.
• An understanding of antimicrobial resistance, veterinary systems, gender science and the sustainable development goals is advantageous.
• Experience in handling diverse datasets, data processing and statistical software such as R, SPSS, Stata, Matlab or Python.
• Ability to jointly work in a multi-national, multi-disciplinary team of scientists and technicians.
• Ability to supervise and guide research assistants and junior graduate students e.g., Bachelor or Masters level.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Based in Kenya full-time throughout the PhD programme with short research stays at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Location: ILRI – Kenya, with frequent in-country field travel and some travel abroad for fulfilment of PhD requirements at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Duration: 3 Years