The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) seeks to recruit a PhD graduate fellow to work on Assessing wildlife value chain and interspecies transmission risk of zoonotic diseases using a One Health approach in Vietnam. The successful fellow will be hosted at the Animal and Human Health (AHH) program at ILRI.
* About the position:
Wildlife farming and trade has grown into a multimillion industry in Vietnam. It primarily supplies food, income and other livelihoods to many communities, and supplements food production gaps from the livestock industry in other areas. One of the biggest threats of this occupation, however, is its potential to serve as a source of novel zoonotic pathogens. Published studies show that up to 75% of all emerging diseases are zoonoses, with most of these being associated with wildlife. Such novel zoonoses often cause huge health and socioeconomic impacts. Examples of novel zoonotic pathogens that recently emerged from wildlife include Ebola, SARS, SARS-CoV-2, Nipah virus and highly pathogenic avian influenza.
ILRI is recruiting a PhD fellow to develop and implement a risk assessment framework founded on the One Health approach along wildlife meat value chains to determine the magnitude of this problem. The fellow will also analyze biological samples that were collected recently from these value chains to determine the prevalence of selected zoonotic pathogens in these chains. S/he will work with a team of researchers with a wealth of expertise on emerging infectious diseases (EIDs), food safety and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) work.
Depending on biosafety and biosecurity practices used to prevent cross contamination, wildlife farms, slaughterhouses or markets could serve as contact nodes from where zoonotic pathogens spillover to the human population. It is important therefore to characterize practices involved in wild meat production and marketing, identify nodes where humans, domestic animals and wildlife interface and quantify risk of spillovers to inform targeted surveillance and response.
* Terms of Reference (ToRs):
In close collaboration with ILRI supervisors, the fellow will:
- Conduct statistical analysis and develop a disease transmission model from animal/wildlife to human.
- Undertake other relevant tasks as assigned by work supervisors.
- Develop a survey for risk factors, knowledge, attitude and perception.
- Develop a risk assessment framework, focusing on risk of zoonoses spillovers from wildmeat value chain.
- Develop a protocol for screening human and animal diseases including collection blood and serum samples for zoonotic diseases.
- Draft a thesis and at least three journal publications.
- Lead the sampling and process the samples mentioned above for laboratory analysis.
* Terms of appointment and stipend: ILRI will offer a competitive stipend to cover living expenses, medical insurance cover, meet research expenses and tuition fees. The successful candidate will benefit from various capacity development opportunities available at ILRI and will be supervised jointly by an ILRI scientist and the university/academic supervisor.
* Duration: 3 Years 5 Months (July 2022 – Dec 2025).
** HOW TO APPLY:
* Location: ILRI – Vietnam.
All applications MUST include the following (applications not containing these documents will not be considered):
- Copies of academic qualification certificates/transcripts.
- CV including names and addresses (including telephone and email) of three referees who are knowledgeable about the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience.
- A cover letter addressed to the Head of Capacity Development, ILRI expressing their interest in the fellowship position and what they can bring to the fellowship. The position title and reference number REF: GF/ILRI/AHH/04/2022 should be clearly marked on the subject line of the cover letter.
Applications must be submitted through our recruitment portal: https://ilri.simplicant.com/jobs/44465-ilri-phd-graduate-fellowship-assessing-wildlife-value-chain-and-interspecies-transmission-risk-of-zoonotic-diseases-using-a-one-health-approach-in-vietnam/detail on or before 20 June 2022.
ILRI does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing or training). ILRI also does not concern itself with information on applicants&039; bank accounts.
We thank all applicants for their interest in working for ILRI. Due to the volume of applications, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
To find out more about ILRI visit our websites at http://www.ilri.org
