PhD Scholarship Opportunity: Injury epidemiology and prevention

The George Institute is 700+ people around the world, all focused on improving the health of millions of people worldwide. As a medical research institute affiliated with leading universities and with projects in approximately 50 countries, we are challenging the status quo in healthcare to:

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Globally, traumatic injury is the leading cause of mortality, hospitalisation and ongoing disability in children over the age of one. The effects of injury can be devastating and long lasting, with repercussions for the patient, their family and their community in ways that perpetuate beyond the initial injury, including but not limited to ongoing disability, psychological and social issues. The economic burden of childhood injury is significant, with a recent national report putting the total costs of hospitalisations for childhood injury alone at an estimated $212 million (AUD) per annum.

There is an exciting opportunity for a PhD candidate to join a research team in a dynamic and stimulating work environment. The Injury Program seeks to identify and test cost-effective programs to reduce the global burden of injury, influence policy and scale up proven programs for sustainable change.  Our work covers a range of topics from surveillance, observational studies and large-scale pragmatic intervention trials through to program evaluation and policy research. A close collaboration with the Statistics Division will enable the successful candidate to be surrounded and supported by a team of statistical programmers, biostatisticians and health economists

The successful candidate will develop a PhD project addressing a critical area of need in childhood injury prevention using quantitative (ie. statistics, health economics) methods and data collected through data linkage and/or from randomised controlled trials and systematic reviews of the literature/meta analyses.

Overarching aims of this work might be, but are not limited to, one of the following;

1. to establish priorities for injury prevention strategies in through the identification of temporal changes in childhood injury trends associated with specific mechanisms of injury, by demographic and other community level factors
2. to identify targets for the development of measures to prevent injury
3. to evaluate effectiveness and cost-benefit of novel and/or well-established injury countermeasures, and
4. to assess impact of current injury management practices on morbidity and mortality.

Supervisor(s)

• Professor Julie Brown, Head, Injury Program, The George Institute
• Professor Gian Luca Di Tanna, Head, Statistics Division, The George Institute
• Dr Susan Adams, Pediatric Surgeon, Sydney Children’s Hospital Network

Eligibility

We are seeking candidates with a background in epidemiology, biostatistics, mathematics or related discipline. We encourage applicants to apply from both an academic and policy background.

Candidates must hold a relevant first or second-class Honours degree or Masters Degree and/or be able to demonstrate equivalent research experience and will be expected to be successful in obtaining a competitive post graduate scholarship

Experience in quantitative data analysis and use of statistical software (SAS, Stata, or R) are essential, experience in the analysis of linked administrative (health) data are desired. Strong communication skills and the ability to think critically and analytically are essential.

Australian citizens, New Zealand citizens or Australian permanent residents are eligible to apply.

Award Amount

The Injury Program is offering one PhD top up Scholarship at $10,000 per annum (tax exempt and indexed annually) for three years subject to satisfactory progress.

Application Guide

Applications must include a cover letter, current CV, copy of academic transcripts, proof of citizenship or permanent residency, and the names and contact details of at least two referees.

Closing Date

Sunday 7 March 2021