There Are 4 Vacant Research Officer Posts At The University Of Cape Town Health Sciences Faculty

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Vacant Research Officer Posts At The University Of Cape Town Health Sciences Faculty

Two (2) research officer posts will work on a four-year Wellcome Trust award investigating the socio-cultural drivers of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The PROTEA (Power Relations in Optimization of Therapies and Equity in Access to Antibiotics) study is an international collaboration between South Africa and India. It aims to investigate how power manifests itself according to gender, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, and class influencing infection- related health-seeking and health-providing behaviors across structures within society including healthcare.

This research programme will investigate how and why social determinants influence how people seek, experience, and provide healthcare for (bacterial) infection prevention and control (IPC) and antibiotic use in South Africa and India. Applying an innovative lens and mixed methods of: i. ethnographic research, sociograms, and semi-structured interviews with healthcare providers, patients, and care-givers; ii. quantitative analysis of clinical practice in hospitals measuring the various predictors of AMR. This research will provide empirical, high-quality evidence on how social determinants intersect with health, social well-being, and vulnerability in IPC practices and antibiotic use.

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In addition, two (2) research officer posts for 3-years each will be allocated to work on The Wellcome Turst-funded Project – Centres for Antimicrobial Optimisation Network (CAMO-Net) – a global collaborative research network focused on antimicrobial optimisation for use in humans, underpinned by the values of equity, local leadership, co- production of activities, knowledge mobilisation, mutual cross-regional learning, training, capacity and capabilities strengthening, and output sharing. Its vision is a world where the appropriate, evidence based use of antimicrobials is commonplace, supported by equitable availability and accessibility. CAMO-Net’s mission is to complement and enhance the existing ecosystem of global programmes designed to alleviate the global burden and impact of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and poorly treated infections by creating and nurturing a sustainable and equitable ecosystem for global research to optimise the use of antimicrobials in humans. This will be achieved through producing contextually relevant tools, technologies, guidelines, and practices that can be readily implemented with the support of governments and policymakers.

Also Apply: Bursary Opportunity for Second or Final-year South African students studying towards an IT degree

Rather than being 2 completely separate programmes of work, research officers on PROTEA and CAMO-Net will work collaboratively and cross-pollinate.

The Division of Infectious Diseases & HIV Medicine based at Groote Schuur Hospital in the Faculty of Health Sciences is a Clinical Infectious Diseases Unit, committed to the pursuit of excellence in research, treatment, and prevention of Infectious Diseases in South Africa. The Division seeks highly motivated Researchers to work with for the Faculty delivering to the objectives of the Wellcome Trust Grants. These posts are based at Groote Schuur Hospital with opportunities for international travel and work partner study sites.

Requirements:

Degree in Public Health or related Health Services Research of Natural Sciences
Research experience in healthcare settings
Ability to work with Microsoft packages, interact with sponsor websites and emails
Valid South African driver’s license
Willingness to travel for research internationally for short periods of time

Advantageous

Knowledge of Good Clinical Practice (GCP)
Social and health equity research and/or work experience
Experience in publishing research in peer-reviewed journals
Mixed methods research experience

Also Apply: The City of Polokwane External Bursary Opportunity for Young South Africans: 2024 Academic Year

Responsibilities:

To work collaboratively with local pharmacy, medical/surgical staff, the multidisciplinary stewardship team, hospital management, and community to ensure implementation of agreed research across projects and to deliver the identified objectives
To collaborate with researchers internationally who are also working on the projects and with researchers in India and PIs in the five-Country CAMO-Net research programme also funded by the Wellcome Trust

Conduct qualitative studies including: ethnography, face-to-face interviews, documentary analysis
Assist in quantitative studies especially analysing antibiotic consumption data both in hospital settings and also in community household surveys on access to and use of antibiotics
To recruit and consent study participants (including healthcare professionals and management staff, and patients and carers)
To participate in community engagement work related to the project
Conduct ethnographic observational studies with surgical teams, and the antibiotic stewardship team in the hospital
To take on the responsibility for writing and driving aspects of the research and pro-actively co tribute to research outputs

Also Apply: Postgraduate Funding Opportunity to Study at the University of Cape Town, University of Witwatersrand, University of KwaZulu-Natal, and Rhodes University

The annual cost of employment, including benefits is between R638 044 and R853 709.

For enquiries about this post, please contact Prof Esmita Charani, email: esmita.charani@uct.ac.za

DEADLINE: 08 Jan 2024