University of KwaZulu-Natal JUNIOR EPIDEMIOLOGIST

The Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies is a joint initiative of the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the South African Medical Research Council, with support from the Wellcome Trust and other funders, to create a global centre of research excellence in a rural area. The Centre’s mission is to conduct, in partnership with the community, policy-relevant health and population research in an ethical manner, and to enhance the capacity of the people of sub-Saharan Africa to conduct research.

The Centre is located in the rural Umkhanyakude District of KwaZulu-Natal. It hosts a number of clinical and social research projects, including Africa’s most comprehensive Demographic Surveillance System, which monitors longitudinal vital events in a population of 90 000 and provides a rich base for health and social science research. Employees of the Africa Centre are encouraged to gain a broad experience across all studies in order to develop their own skills and advance their careers.

The Africa Centre wishes to recruit the following:
JUNIOR EPIDEMIOLOGIST

The successful candidate’s main responsibilities will be to ensure academic output from the HIV and Health surveillance, in the form of papers and reports, to describe the trends in main variables, including prevalence, incidence, health indicators and sexual partnerships, and to oversee the HIV surveillance, working closely with the HIV data quality lead and the Database Scientist.

The qualifications and experience required for this post are: • A Master’s Degree in Epidemiology or a related field • 1-2 years’ prior research and/or operational experience • Record of publications in international peer-reviewed journals as first author • Understanding of HIV epidemiology • Knowledge of study design and statistical methodology • Knowledge of use of standard statistical packages – STATA, SAS • The ability to work with large complex datasets • The ability to conduct standard statistical analyses of datasets and regression analyses • The ability to mentor junior staff and students • Good writing skills in English • The ability to work effectively in a multidisciplinary team • Modelling ability would be an advantage • The ability to speak Zulu would be an added advantage.

Enquiries should be directed to the Director, tel. (035) 550-7500 or e-mail: mnewell@africacentre.ac.za

Unless otherwise stated, this post will be offered initially on a 3-year fixed-term appointment; extension will be dependent on funding. The remuneration offered will be in the region of R285 000-R300 000 Cost to Company per annum.

The closing date for these posts will be 20 July 2012.

Applicants are required to submit a comprehensive Curriculum Vitae and certified copies of qualifications, together with names, full address, fax number or e-mail address of three referees.