Research Fellow in Epidemiology /Statistics (Fixed-term contract for two years)

School of Health & Bioscience
Reference: 051R2010
Closing Date: Wednesday 30 June 2010
Interview Date: To be confirmed
Salary: £25,787 to £38,626 per annum inclusive of London Weighting

The University of East London is a dynamic university with a reputation for innovation and diversity, and for its serious engagement with social, cultural and economic development. With a national and international profile and a turnover which exceeds £150 million, its student numbers are at a record high of over 20,000. It has recently completed an ambitious estates strategy along with a revitalisation of its academic provision to move to the next stage of development.

In the 2008 RAE we improved our league table position by 28 places and are one of the top modern UK universities for research. We are now seeking to enhance our research base further still by appointing a research fellow.

This is an exciting opportunity for an epidemiologist/statistician in a leading Institute for research on health and wellbeing. You will analyse and prepare publications from surveys of the residents and localities of 40 poor estates in London and win new research grants to further explore emerging hypotheses. Applicants should have a PhD in epidemiology, statistics or other quantitative discipline along with knowledge and experience of statistical principles and applications and modelling health in terms of behavioural, social & cultural influences.

Informal enquiries can be directed to Professor Adrian Renton, [log in to unmask]
If you would like further information about the Institute for Health and Human Development please visit www.uel.ac.uk/ihhd.


JOB DESCRIPTION

Job title: Research Fellow in Epidemiology /Statistics

Grade: RF

School: Institute for Health and Human Development (IHHD)

Responsible to: Director of Institute for Health & Human Development or nominee

Liaison with: Staff within the Institute, School of Health and Bioscience, the wider university School, external agencies,
external academic departments,

Responsible for: Developing and delivering a programme of work around the statistical / economic analyses of IHHD research and national databases; providing teaching and tutorial supervision
 
Background to the Post

Institute for Health and Human Development
The Institute for Health and Human Development is an accredited cross-university Research Institute set up in March 2006 to consolidate and develop research relating to health, wellbeing and human development across the university. IHHD’s mission is to conduct high quality multidisciplinary theoretical and empirical research into social, economic and cultural production of health and wellbeing; and to use creative approaches to the design and evaluation of institutions, policies and interventions that engage and support people to make sustainable lifestyle and consumption choices which promote their health and wellbeing. IHHD is directed by Prof Adrian Renton with support from Prof Angela Harden, and comprises a core interdisciplinary team of 14 core research staff, 3 administrative staff with 6 associated academic staff from across the university and 10 external Fellows. It has an active postgraduate research programme with 6 current PhD students and regular seminars and journal clubs. In the past 3 years, the Institute has won grants and contracts worth over £2.8m including highly competitive funding from the Wellcome Trust, Economic and Social Research Council, and the National Institute for Health Research. IHHD has active partnerships with institutions which are international leaders in public health research including the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University College London and Queen Mary University of London. As a growing research enterprise IHHD needs to develop and support a wide range of quantitative primary research projects as well as extensive use and analysis of available external datasets. In order to do this we are seeking to appoint an accomplished epidemiologist/statistician who can share our mission and has the flexibility, skills knowledge and vision to analyze our needs; and to develop and deliver solutions.

Well London Programme
Well London is a four year programme, supported by £9.4m of lottery funding, working with 20 of the most deprived communities in London to promote healthy physical activity (HPA), healthy eating (HE) and mental health and wellbeing (MHWB) by delivering integrated interventions which act at structural and community levels as well as at the individual level. The selection of intervention communities was randomised and IHHD has been funded by the Wellcome Trust to collect baseline and follow-up data on key outcomes. Over the last 18 months IHHD has carried out household surveys of health and wellbeing among adults resident in 40 of the most deprived estates in 20 London Boroughs as well as school based adolescent surveys. These surveys have generated responses from 4,200 adults and 1400 adolescents. Questionnaires have covered sociodemographic characteristics of respondents, levels of HE, levels of PA, levels of mental health and anxiety/neurosis, positive mental wellbeing (MHWB), social networks and support, arts participation, attitudes towards local area, satisfaction with local services and area as well as general health questions. These surveys will be repeated in 2011/12. Further, area based surveys of all 40 estates and their surrounding areas have been carried out to document and rate environmental characteristics which might influence wellbeing (such as walkability, aesthetics, security, drug selling, etc) and these primary area-based data have been added to by compilation of routine and geographical information system (GIS) derived variables. These data are fully cleaned and integrated into SAS and Stata statistical analysis packages.
The Well London datasets are unique for a number of reasons:
1. The surveys represent by far the largest survey of health and wellbeing in deprived communities carried out in the UK (for comparison the total sample of the annual Health Survey for England is around 7,000).
2. Response rates are very high for such deprived communities.
3. They use standard question sets as used in national surveys, allowing comparisons.
4. They link information on individual behaviour derived from questionnaire surveys of communities with both primary data, and routine data describing the characteristics of the neighbourhood and qualitative information on barriers and supports for adopting healthy lifestyles.
5. The surveys will be repeated in 2011/2012 allowing comparison over time.

Job Purpose:
To lead and develop epidemiological /statistical analysis for IHHD research, intervention and teaching programmes.
The primary responsibilities of the post holder will be to:
1. Lead and develop the statistical work and capacity of IHHD by delivering statistical / economic advice, developing data systems and statistical packages for analysis, leading on projects and initiating new projects building on existing strengths and experiences;
2. Developing new applications for external research funding.
3. Liaise with other academic departments to ensure statistical practice within IHHD projects is of the highest quality;
4. Direct project work that enhances the research and teaching activities within IHHD;
5. Develop and lead a programme of scholarly activity including publication of scientific papers in high-impact academic journals, preparation of project reports and policy briefs, and presentations at professional workshops and seminars.
6. Work in accordance with UEL’s equality and diversity policies.





PERSON SPECIFICATION

Qualifications

1. PhD in epidemiology, statistics or other quantitative discipline [E] (A)

Knowledge
1. Knowledge and experience of statistical principles and applications and modelling health in terms of behavioural, social & cultural influences [E]
2. Good understanding of general administration of project management and delivery [E] (A/I)
3. Experience of extracting and analysing publicly available geographically based datasets (E] (A/I)

Experience
1. As an epidemiologist or applied statistician in the fields of health or social policy (E) (I/P)
2. Experience of data analysis in either Stata or SAS
3. Track record of relevant publications and external research funding [D] (A/I)


Skills/abilities
1. Excellent oral and written communication skills and ability to lead teams and work with colleagues across professional and operational boundaries [E] (I/P)
2. Ability to design quantitative empirical research studies [E] A/P)
3. Excellent organizational skills to be able to manage a heavy workload and the ability to work on own initiative and to prioritise between conflicting demands [E]. (A/I)


Personal attributes and circumstances
1. Able to work both independently and within a team [E] (A/I)

The appointee will be encouraged to undertake appropriate training to develop further the relevant skills and competencies for the job.

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