PhD Scholarship in Transfusion and Health Economics

Job No.: 639657

Location: 580 Swanston Street, Carlton, 3053

Employment Type: Full-time

Duration: 3-year fixed-term appointment

Remuneration: A stipend of up to $29,500 per annum is available for 3 years, which may be converted to top-up funding if candidates receive a university or national PhD scholarship. Additional support also available for project resources and conference attendance.

• Be inspired, every day
• Drive your own learning at one of the world’s top 80 universities
• Take your career in exciting, rewarding directions

The Opportunity:

We are seeking expressions of interest from candidates who wish to apply for a PhD with the Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Modelling in Epidemiology Program, to undertake research in the Novel intervention strategies for the endgame of HIV.

Your PhD research will form part of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Modelling in Epidemiology Program, located at Melbourne Sexual Health Centre (part of Central Clinical School and Alfred Health). The program has a strong research focus on infectious diseases epidemiology, health economics and medical AI. We now have an exciting opportunity for a PhD candidate to join our high-performing team. This position is part of a team of Senior Research Fellows, Postdocts and other PhD students, which is strongly supported by the director of Melbourne Sexual Health Centre.

Project Description

Currently, there are 37.7 million people living with HIV. An estimated 28.2 million people were accessing antiretroviral therapy which is highly effective in reducing HIV-related mortality and further transmission. The number of new HIV infections is reducing worldwide, yet, 1.5 million people became newly infected with HIV every year.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is the regular or on-demand use of an oral HIV medication (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine, TDF/FTC) by HIV negative people to prevent HIV acquisition. In 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended PrEP as an additional prevention option, as a part of comprehensive HIV prevention. PrEP is safe and up to 99% effective in reducing HIV acquisition, but only when adherence is high. There is strong evidence that PrEP not only protects individuals but has a population effect in reducing HIV incidence. PrEP has been implemented to various extent across different geographical regions worldwide. Currently, it is estimated that 98% of new HIV infections in Asia-pacific among those aged 15-49 years are from key populations (men who have sex with men (MSM), transgender women (TGW), people who inject drugs, sex workers, prisoners) and their sexual partners. However, less than 20% of these key populations would have access to PrEP.

These PhD projects aim to investigate the optimal way to implement PrEP in a community setting for people highly at-risk of HIV infection. It also evaluates the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of community derived PrEP service packages through implementation trials in existing PrEP cohorts. We will employ advanced computational and modelling methods to project the HIV epidemiological trajectory in the Asia-Pacific in both the presence and absence of PrEP in the region. We will identify the differences between these scenarios to quantify the impact of PrEP on the HIV disease burden. We will conduct an economic evaluation to identify the optimal resource allocation for PrEP as a key intervention strategy to end AIDS as a public health threat.

Selection criteria:

Candidates must have a degree or masters in a relevant discipline, with strong academic results. The project would suit candidates with prior experience in transfusion, health economics, public health or health related research.

Interested applicants should refer to the PhD entry requirements: www.monash.edu/graduate-research/future-students/apply.

If this sounds like a position that suits your current career focus we look forward to hearing from you.

How to apply – Submit an Expression of Interest (EOI)

To be considered, interested candidates will need to submit an EOI via email to lei.zhang1@monash.edu by Sunday October 30^th 2022.

Please include the following:

1. Curriculum vitae
2. Academic transcripts
3. Brief cover letter (< 1 page) detailing your relevant experience, research skills and interest in the project

Enquiries

Lei Zhang: lei.zhang1@monash.edu

Jason Ong: Jason.Ong@monash.edu

Closing Date

Sunday 30 October 2022, 11:55 pm AEDT

At Monash University, the health, safety and wellbeing of our staff, students and visitors is our top priority. In accordance with the Pandemic Orders issued by the Victorian Government, Health Minister, we require all staff working or placed in healthcare facilities to be fully vaccinated (boosted) against COVID-19 or have an approved medical exemption from receiving a COVID-19 vaccine in order to attend these locations. For the latest information on COVID-19 at Monash, please visit our website.

In your application, please refer to Professorpositions.com