Strengthening the ability to detect, prevent, and respond to public health emergencies and build community resilience
The Research Center for Integrated Disaster Risk Management (CIGIDEN https://cigidenweb.ing.uc.cl) and the Millennium Initiative for Collaborative Research On Bacterial Resistance (MICROB-R, https://microb-r.org/) have jointly opened a new full-time post-doc position focused on strengthening the ability to detect, prevent, and respond to public health emergencies and build community resilience.
CIGIDEN is a multidisciplinary research center funded by ANID with research teams located in Santiago, Valparaíso, Antofagasta, and Concepción. CIGIDEN brings together researchers from various fields, including Sociology, Urban Studies, Urban Planning, Geography, Psychology, Engineering, and Geosciences, and is supported by the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, the Universidad Nacional Andrés Bello, the Universidad Católica del Norte and the Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María. The Center is hosted at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, ranked first in Latin America by the 2019 QS international ranking.
MICROB-R is an interdisciplinary center funded by ANID with research teams in Santiago, Valparaiso, and Concepción. MICROB-R brings together researchers from various fields, including experts in Human and Animal Health, Microbiology, Food Safety, Molecular Biology, Genomics, and Social Sciences. The group focuses on the study of multidrug resistant organisms in hospitals and in the community. It has an active network of 12 major hospitals, an open biorepository, and established research in an ongoing community cohort in the Molina, a semi-rural town in central Chile. MICROB-R is supported by the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Universidad Andrés Bello, Universidad del Desarrollo, Universidad de Concepción, and Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso.
The position
CIGIDEN and MICROB-R are offering a 1 to 2-year postdoctoral research position in the research cluster of Risk and Resilience Analysis, CIGIDEN, and Emerging public health threats, MICROB-R, focusing on strengthening the ability to detect, prevent, and respond to public health emergencies and build community resilience. The successful candidate will collaborate closely with Dr. Eduardo A. Undurraga, Assistant Professor at the Escuela de Gobierno, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, and other researchers at CIGIDEN and MICROB-R. Candidates are expected to work on a range of ongoing and new projects related to risk and resilience related to public health emergencies.
CIGIDEN’s Risk and Resilience Analysis cluster covers a range of topics dealing with risk and resilience of complex networks, present and future disaster risks in urban settings, socioeconomic assessment of disaster consequences, integration of socio-economic assessment into mitigation strategies and resilience and the integration of research into a risk and resilience analysis platform. Because the postdoc position is shared with MICROB-R, successful candidates are expected to focus on risk and resilience related to public health emergencies, particularly the ability to detect and respond to infectious disease threats, focusing on emerging and multidrug resistant pathogens. Candidates will become part of a large team working in different projects within CIGIDEN and MICROB-R, contributing to the interaction and collaborations between these two research centers. Candidates will be encouraged to participate in outreach activities and programs of these research centers with the objective of transferring the scientific knowledge to different local communities.
Applicants are expected to have expertise in quantitative data analysis. In particular, they are expected to have research knowledge related to any of the following fields: Data Science, Engineering, Computational Biology, Epidemiology, Social Sciences, and Applied Mathematics. Expertise and experience in managing different data sources, programming skills, and administration skills are desirable. The position is oriented to understanding the socio-economic consequences of natural disasters, including infectious disease outbreaks, and their effects in resilience, by accounting for impacts in the economy, environment, specific communities, general population, and their interactions and interrelations.
Research topics may include two or more of the following: (i) studying possible relations and consequences of public health emergencies within socio-economic data; (ii) thinking of the impact of cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis methodologies on investment patterns and resilience to natural disasters; (iii) understanding the natural history, biology, and clinical relevance of antimicrobial resistant bacteria colonization in the community; (iv) developing a surveillance system combining data from the community, wastewater, and healthcare to estimate risk of infections with antimicrobial resistant bacteria; (v) integrating emerging evidence from microbiome research into health systems and disease surveillance; (vi) rethinking the public and private loss from public health emergency assessment methodologies; and (vi) carrying out longitudinal and/or panel studies of the socio-economic consequences of public health emergencies and community resilience.
Required qualifications
The candidate must hold a PhD degree obtained during the last four years in an area related to the description above. The candidate should also be fluent in English. Journal publications, conference publications and presentations, and programing skills will also be considered in the evaluation of applicants. Experience in teaching, supervising of undergraduate and graduate students, engaging in outreach and transfer activities, participation in research projects, and other professional industry and research working experience will be considered a plus.
Minimum expected achievements
Minimum expected achievements for the first year are the submission of at least one WoS-indexed article to a scientific journal and the application to the ANID Postdoctoral program (expected to be open around May/June 2022). To allocate a 2nd year of postdoctoral funding the applicant will be evaluated at the end of the first year where completion of these minimum expected achievements are compulsory. Submission of at least a second WOS-indexed article to a scientific journal, proof of outstanding performance and fulfillment of committed tasks are required during the second year of the postdoctoral position.
Application
The call is open between June 17th and July 17th, and the starting date should ideally be August 2021. Late applications may be considered until the position is filled, and special conditions may apply for the starting date. The duration of the position is for a minimum of 12 months.
Successful applicants will be appointed by CIGIDEN and MICROB-R at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and will reside in Santiago, Chile, where they will receive a gross stipend of 1.800.000 CLP (~2.800 USD) per month. To apply, please send your letter of intent/motivation, a research proposal, an extended CV with a full digital archive of published ISI papers, and two letters of recommendation to Eduardo A. Undurraga eundurra@uc.cl with the entitled subject “CIGIDEN MICROB-R Postdoctoral Application”.