The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a world-leading centre for research and postgraduate education in public and global health. Our mission is to improve health and health equity in the UK and worldwide; working in partnership to achieve excellence in public and global health research, education and translation of knowledge into policy and practice.
The main purpose of the post is to develop, support, and carry out high quality social science research activities across the work of the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team (UK-PHRST). While the postholder will contribute to a variety of research projects over time, the first UK-PHRST project they will have a substantial role in involves conducting research and supporting the Africa CDC in the integration of social science approaches into their core operations around epidemic outbreaks.
The UK-PHRST is an innovative government-academic partnership funded by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and co-led by UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and LSHTM, with a consortium of academic and implementing partners in the UK and internationally. Current research and capacity strengthening projects with LMIC partners include epidemiological, mental health, social science, clinical and laboratory studies in infectious disease outbreak detection, preparedness and response. The post-holder will bring social science expertise to the team as part of a cadre of multidisciplinary research fellows and will be expected to contribute to multiple research and capacity strengthening projects across the remits of the UK-PHRST. Further particulars are included in the job description.
The post is full time 35 hours per week, 1.0 FTE and fixed-term until 31 March 2025. The post is funded by the UK Government Overseas Development Aid and is available immediately.
The salary will be on the Academic Pathway salary scale grade 6 in the range of £41,829 – £47,503 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 “Wellbeing Days”. Membership of the Pension Scheme is available. The post is based in London at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
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.
General Information
The UK Public Health Rapid Support Team (UK-PHRST)
Launched in 2016, the UK-PHRST is an innovative government-academic partnership funded by
the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and co-led by UK Health Security Agency
(UKHSA) and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), with a consortium of
academic and implementing partners in the UK and internationally.
It is comprised of a multidisciplinary team of public health professionals and researchers with a
novel integrated triple-remit of outbreak response, research and capacity strengthening to prevent
and control epidemics of infectious diseases in countries eligible for UK Official Development
Assistance (ODA). Both institutes contribute and are responsible for delivery of the UK-PHRST
triple mandate across outbreak response, research and capacity strengthening, with LSHTM
leading the research programme and UKHSA who lead the outbreak response.
The UK-PHRST has the following objectives:
- support partners in LMICs to prepare for, prevent, detect and respond rapidly to disease
outbreaks, with the aim of stopping a public health threat from becoming a health
emergency; - identify research questions with partners and deliver rigorous research with partners that
improves the evidence base for best practice in disease outbreak prevention, detection
and response in LMICs; - support the development of in-country capacity for an improved and rapid national
response to prepare for, prevent, detect and respond to disease outbreaks.
The UK-PHRST is a multidisciplinary team that includes a range of technical skillsets from across
public health, core programme/operational management, and senior leadership.
UK Health Security Agency
At the United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) our mission is to provide health security
for the nation by protecting from infectious disease and external hazards. We are a trusted source
of advice to government and to the public, focusing on reducing inequalities in the way different
communities experience and are impacted by infectious disease, environmental hazards, and
other threats to health. Our mission is challenging, innovative and in the spotlight. We will work to ensure our people have the diverse skills, experiences, and backgrounds we need to thrive, that our staff are representative of the communities we serve and feel valued and enabled to play their part in delivering our work. Creating our working culture is an ongoing process which we are developing by listening and learning together, hearing and acting upon diverse voices and opinions to develop a common sense of identity and effective ways of working.
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is renowned for its research,
postgraduate studies and continuing education in public and global health.
Our mission is to improve health and health equity in the UK and worldwide; working in
partnership to achieve excellence in public and global health research, education and translation
of knowledge into policy and practice. We embrace and value the diversity of our staff and student population and seek to promote equity, diversity and inclusion as essential elements in contribution to improving health worldwide.
We believe that when people feel respected and included, they can be more creative, successful,
and happier at work. While we have more work to do, we are committed to building an inclusive
workplace, a community that everyone feels a part of, which is safe, respectful, supportive and
enables all to reach their full potential.
History
Founded in 1899 at the London Docks, LSHTM is now based in Bloomsbury, where it has two
main sites at Keppel Street and Tavistock Place, and additional sites in The Gambia and Uganda.
Today, our staff, students and alumni work in government, academia, international agencies and
health services across the world.
Research
Research income has grown to more than £180 million per year from national and international
funding sources including UK government and research councils, the European Union, the
Wellcome Trust, Gates Foundation and other philanthropic sources.
Our diverse research talents, skills and experience underpin our position as a leader in public and
global health. These range from the molecular to the global, the theoretical to the applied, the
analytical to the political. Our staff are conducting research in more than 100 countries.
Staff community
We have 3,300 staff based all around the world with core hubs in London and at the MRC Units in
The Gambia and Uganda, which joined LSHTM in February 2018. Our outstanding, diverse and committed staff make an impact where it is most needed – deploying research in real time in response to crises, developing innovative programmes for major health threats, or training the
next generations of public and global health leaders and researchers.
Partnerships
Working in partnership is central to achieving our mission. Our strategic collaborations in the UK
and across high-, middle- and low-income countries deliver health and socioeconomic benefits
across the world, especially in the most disadvantaged communities.
LSHTM is also a member of the M8 Alliance of Academic Health Centers, Universities and
National Academies, the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region, and the
Consortium of Universities for Global Health.
Education
We deliver research-led educational programmes to future health leaders, managers and
researchers across the world. We have more than 1,200 face-to-face Master’s and Doctoral
students, 3,000 studying by distance learning, and 1,000 each year on short courses and
continuous professional development. Our free online courses are studied by more than 270,000
participants globally.
Excellence in research and education
We perform strongly in various global university league tables. In the Shanghai Ranking’s Global
Ranking of Academic Subjects 2020 we placed 3rd in public health (1st in the UK). In the 2020
CWTS Leiden Ranking LSHTM is ranked the UK’s top university for the proportion of academic
research with women listed as authors, and third in Europe for publishing open access research.
In the US News Best Global Universities Ranking 2021, we ranked 3rd in the world for public,
environmental & occupational health, 4th in the world for infectious diseases, 11th in the world for
social sciences & public health, and 12th best University in the UK overall. We ranked 27th for
medicine in the 2019 QS World University Rankings.
In 2017, the inaugural Center for World University Rankings by Subject placed LSHTM first in the
world for tropical medicine research, second for parasitology and seventh for infectious
diseases, public, environment and occupational health, and social sciences and biomedical.
LSHTM was named University of the Year 2016 by Times Higher Education and awarded
a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in 2017 in recognition of our
response to the 2014 Ebola epidemic in West Africa. LSHTM does not appear in the Times Higher
Education World University Rankings as universities are excluded if they do not teach
undergraduates.
We seek to foster and sustain a creative and supportive working environment based upon an
ethos of respect and rigorous scientific enquiry. We embrace and value the diversity of our staff
and student population and seek to promote equality as an essential element in contribution to
improving health worldwide.
LSHTM is one of around 20 specialist institutions that receive institution specific funding from
the Office for Students (OfS). This funding recognises the additional costs that LSHTM incurs
because of its unique range of teaching, specialist facilities, and the scale of its contributions to
national and international agencies.
Faculty Information
Faculty of Public Health and Policy
The Faculty of Public Health and Policy (PHP) is focused on the improvement of health
throughout the UK and worldwide. We do this through research, teaching and the provision of
advice in the areas of health policy, health systems and services, and individual, social and environmental influences on health. Interests and activities embrace the health needs of people living in countries at all levels of development. We run a range of popular and highly respected MSc courses, short courses and CPD.
The Faculty has around 250 academic staff and 140 research students. We are the largest multi-
disciplinary public health group in Europe. We use multidisciplinary and multi-method approaches
to generate new knowledge for specific contexts and test transferability to different settings, and engage with policymakers and providers of health care to ensure research is relevant and translated into practice.
Department of Global Health and Development
The department conducts novel and policy-relevant research and training that concerns health
issues with a global reach, predominantly from the perspective of low- and middle-income country
development. Our work spans health policy and systems research, economic evaluation,
anthropological approaches to global health, gender violence and violence in childhood, and
medical humanitarianism.
There are approximately 130 staff and 110 research degree students, with total grants funding of
over £35m spread over a range of funders including research councils, UK and overseas
charities, the European Union, the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office and others.
Academic Staff come from a wide range of disciplines including; economics, epidemiology,
mathematics, law, politics, social policy and policy analysis, sociology and anthropology and are
grouped into 5 thematic research groups.
How to apply
Applications should be made on-line via our website at http://jobs.lshtm.ac.uk. 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 [email protected]. Please quote reference PHP-GHD-2023-08.