Career at Epicentre Uganda- Director Research Base Job Vacancy

Closing Date: Friday, 21 January 2011

Job Title: Director Research Base

Company: Epicentre

Epicentre is a non-profit organisation created in 1987 by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which groups health professionals specialised in public health and epidemiology. In 1996, Epicentre became a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Research in Epidemiology and Response to Emerging Diseases.

Closing date: 21 Jan 2011

Location: Uganda - Mbarara

Epicentre carries out operational research studies, mainly within MSF movement from its headquarters in Paris, satellites in Geneva, Brussels and London, and two field research bases in Mbarara, Uganda, and Maradi, Niger. Further, Epicentre offers its expertise to organisations requesting short-term field epidemiological studies in developing countries.

Within the scope of clinical research, Epicentre focuses on infectious diseases, particularly malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, African trypanosomiasis, bacterial meningitis, measles, diarrheal diseases, and hemorrhagic fevers.

Context

In 1995, Epicentre created a permanent research base in Uganda to support MSF projects in the region. In 1997, Epicentre conducted its first survey on shigella resistance in Mbarara. The primary role of Epicentre in Mbarara is to conduct clinical research following Good Clinical Practice (GCP) requirements, on critical public health burdens in Uganda and Africa. To reach this objective, Epicentre collaborates closely with the Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST). A full-time experienced research team is based at the Epicentre Mbarara Research Base (EMRB). After a period characterized by research projects mainly oriented toward clinical trials on malaria, our research activity has been recently extended to include projects on tuberculosis, infectious diseases in children and HIV/AIDS.

The Mbarara research base is located in Mbarara Municipality, a town of 69,000 persons located 300 km South-West to Kampala. Mbarara District has a population of approximately 600,000 inhabitants, and is mainly rural. The main health facility is Mbarara National Referral Hospital which is also a teaching hospital for the MUST. This is the referral hospital for the Western region of Uganda with a capacity of 240 beds. The research base is structured into several departments: administration, logistics, laboratory, data management.

General responsibilities and position

Under the supervision of Epicentre's Clinical Research Director, the Director of the Epicentre Mbarara Research Base will:

    * represent Epicentre in Uganda
    * manage the EMRB with the coordination team
    * lead the research strategy

Principal activities

1. Representation of Epicentre in Uganda

The Director is the representative of Epicentre in Uganda. He/she will in Uganda:

    * be responsible for the respect of Epicentre ethic and values
    * ensure that the projects are coherent with the overall Epicentre vision
    * coordinate the implementation of the scientific communication strategy
    * maintain good relationships with national Ugandan authorities and international institutions
    * promote scientific collaborations with the “Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST)” and other academic institutions
    * represent Epicentre during official and institutional meetings and present Epicentre activity and strategy when needed
    * participate to the various Epicentre / MSF / working group meetings when needed.

2. Management of the EMRB

The Director is responsible for the overall organization of the management of the EMRB and is in charge of a smooth communication between EMRB and Epicentre HQ.

He/she is assisted by a Management Committee composed of the administration coordinator, the laboratory coordinator and the logistic coordinator. In collaboration with them, he/she will:

    * ensure that the human resources (expatriates and national staff) are adequately recruited in terms of skills and qualifications, properly trained to fulfil their tasks
    * coordinate the annual individual reviews and establish the training and continuing education plan
    * be in charge of the health policy of the staff, comprising insurance policy, infection control plan (implemented and followed) and professional health plan
    * be responsible of the respect of the study budgets, participate to the external funding raising when necessary and negotiation with the sponsors / funds providers, be responsible of the respect of the agreement/contract applications
    * be responsible for the data management strategy
    * ensure that the lab techniques are implemented in accordance with the research strategy
    * ensure that the security level is properly adapted to the situation and security measures deployed in due time
    * ensure the adequation of the logistic support to the EMRB and the studies.

3. Leadership of the research strategy and research projects

He/she will:

    * constitute and chair the Steering Committee of EMRB
    * lead the assessment of the research-related needs at the different levels (local, national and international)
    * participate to the analysis of research priorities by liaising with the technical advisors (from Epicentre HQ or working groups) and by seeking other expertise when required
    * develop a 2-year research plan with his/her colleagues from Epicentre HQ and MUST and with the guidance of the EMRB Steering Committee and coordinate its implementation
    * follow the scientific literature and keep updated in the scope of the research agenda of the EMRB
    * translate the research priorities identified into operational / financial / human resources /logistic terms
    * participate with his/her colleagues to the writing of concept notes and research proposals
    * ensure with the investigators that the clinical research projects follow the Good Clinical Practice (GCP) and Good Laboratory practices (GLP)
    * coordinate the various components of the annual strategy review and review the final report and presentation
    * review all scientific communication from the EMRB.

Candidate requirements

Mandatory

    * Medical Doctor
    * Clinical or epidemiological research academic level : MSc, MPH, PhD
    * Previous professional experience of research in developing countries
    * Knowledge or clinical experience in infectious diseases
    * Fluent in English (written and oral)
    * Good communication and negotiation skills
    * Willing to work and live in remote setting

Assets/Plus

    * Previous experience of management/direction/coordination of a research team
    * Intermediate knowledge in biostatistics, in use of a statistical software such as Stata and modern tools in database development, data management, able to provide supervision
    * Previous experience in legal and budget negotiation, agreements writing with academic research institutions

Conditions

    * Field MSF/Epicentre Status
    * Duration: 24 months
    * Expected starting period: between 1st March and 1st September 2011
    * Place: Mbarara, UGANDA

How to apply

Please send your CV, a list of your publications and a research summary (less than 5 pages) by e-mail to nathalie.guerineau@epicentre.msf.org

Deadline of application : January 21st 2011

For additional information, please contact Jean-François Etard : jean-francois.etard@epicentre.msf.org

Reference Code: RW_8CDDPS-57