PATH hiring a Principal Investigator, Senegal.
Job Description:
PATH is currently seeking a qualified Principal Investigator (PI) for the upcoming “Operational Research to Evaluate Mass Drug Administration (MDA) in the context of improved malaria control in Senegal”, funded by the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) through Population Services International (PSI). A two arm cluster randomized controlled trial will be conducted in the region of Tambacounda, Senegal, to determine the effect of three rounds of MDA with dihydro-artemisinin-piperaquine and single low-dose primaquine on village-level confirmed malaria case incidence when provided in the context of optimized control (proactive community case management + PBO nets), compared to optimized control interventions plus seasonal malaria chemoprophylaxis. This work will be conducted over 33 months in collaboration with the Senegalese National Malaria Control Program (PNLP), CDC/PMI, PSI, and the Malaria Elimination Initiative at the University of California, San Francisco.
PATH is a global organization that works to accelerate health equity by bringing together public institutions, businesses, social enterprises, and investors to solve the world’s most pressing health challenges. With expertise in science, health, economics, technology, advocacy, and dozens of other specialties, PATH develops and scales solutions—including vaccines, drugs, devices, diagnostics, and innovative approaches to strengthening health systems worldwide. International development and global health represent one of the greatest opportunities for the impact of digital technologies on a global scale. New technologies, approaches and tools are emerging daily, unfortunately into a fragmented and immature digital health market landscape that currently limits their promise to transform country health systems and accelerate and amplify progress towards national and global health goals.
The PI will be responsible for project leadership and implementation, including overseeing the proper conduct of the trial while ensuring timeliness and quality of primary deliverables. The PI will represent PATH and provide leadership to project partners, inter-agency agreement partners, and among PMI/PSI-funded projects. The PI will also lead collaboration and network development activities with national, regional, and global partners. He/she will ensure that the project achieves results—including project deliverables and targets—in an effective and compliant manner.
Position is contingent upon award to PATH.
Responsibilities:
– Provide overall leadership and ensure quality implementation of the study, ensuring the achievement of all project deliverables and targets in a timely manner.
– Provide management leadership (programmatic, financial, and administrative) for the project, ensuring full alignment with national and international standards and PMI/PSI requirements and standards.
– Ensure ethical approval of all study documents before field work starts and compliance with ethical principles and guidelines for research involving human subjects
– Review standard operating procedures, data collection forms and any other study documents to ensure high-quality products.
– Set up a Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB), ensure reporting of safety data to the DSMB on a regular basis, lead regular meetings with the DSMB to review them.
– Represent PATH and build and maintain productive relationships with PMI/PSI, project partners, and national and regional government counterparts.
Provide vision, overall leadership, and guidance to the project staff.
– Bring technology, analytic, and process innovations to all activities.
– Identify obstacles and risks related to implementation in a timely manner and implement strategies to overcome them.
– Uphold the standards of PATH to lead a high performing team, and ensure strict compliance with PATH policies, regulations, and internal controls.
– In collaboration with project partners, provide guidance and contribute to the analysis of the study results and the dissemination and reporting of the research findings in peer-reviewed articles, scientific conferences and meetings with stakeholders including national and global policy makers..
Job requirements:
– Minimum of 10 years of professional experience in leading randomized clinical trials, preferably in community malaria studies
– Medical or advanced postgraduate degree
Demonstrated expertise in the following:
– Running field trials and surveys, including monitoring of the data
– Conducting safety surveillance in epidemiological studies, including reporting to a Data Safety Monitoring Board
Passive surveillance and routine data reporting
– Demonstrated success and experience working with international organizations, such as USAID
– Experience working in diverse low-resource settings with multi-disciplinary teams and stakeholders.
– Demonstrated experience managing programs that flexibly respond to unanticipated crises or developments.
– Proven success in building and maintaining partnerships with other projects, local organizations, host country governments, and international agencies.
– Strong interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills in English and French required.
