Clinton Health Access Initiative - Senior Associate - Cervical Cancer Study

Clinton Health Access Initiative - Senior Associate, Cervical Cancer Study

Overview :

- The Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. (CHAI) is a global health organization committed to saving lives and reducing the burden of disease in low-and middle-income countries, while strengthening the capabilities of governments and the private sector in those countries to create and sustain high-quality health systems that can succeed without our assistance.

- CHAI is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and is committed to providing an environment of fairness, and mutual respect where all applicants have access to equal employment opportunities. CHAI values diversity and inclusion, and recognizes that our mission is best advanced by the leadership and contributions of people with diverse experience, backgrounds, and culture.

- CHAI's Cervical Cancer Program & The Automated Visual Evaluation (AVE) Study

- CHAI is recruiting a Senior Associate, AVE Study to be seconded full-time to the Department of Preventive Oncology at MPMMCC , Varanasi (a unit of TMC, Mumbai). The Senior Associate will have direct responsibility for executing on the research protocol 'A New method for cervical cancer screening in low and middle-income countries (LMIC) training and technical validation of automated visual evaluation (AVE) in India."

- The research project is in direct collaboration with Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), USA, and Global Health Labs, USA, with funding support from Global Health Labs, an initiative of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The project involves direct applied epidemiologic research to develop and validate novel cancer screening and diagnostic methods.

- The combined screening strategy of particular interest under evaluation in the current research project is primary HPV testing of self-collected specimens, followed by deep-learning based visual evaluation of cervical appearance to predict the risk that a patient has treatable precancer or early cancer. This approach would permit rapid, inexpensive, and accurate screening and treatment of precancerous lesions to prevent cervical cancer.

Responsibilities :

- The Senior Associate, working under the direction of Principal Investigator at TMC, Mumbai and Associate Director, Cervical Cancer at CHAI will have responsibilities for leading the field epidemiology aspects of the research project of cervical screening, involving thousands of participants in Varanasi District.

- He/she will be responsible for overall supervision of the research activities at the study site.

Specific duties include :

1) Overall coordination of the entire project under the oversight of the site-PI.

2) Study design, including developing study protocols, questionnaires, and field procedures manuals including essential checklists and specimen and cervical imaging collection procedures; obtaining human subjects' approvals; preparing study specific IEC materials (e.g. self-sampling video/leaflet, etc.)

3) Liaison with Mumbai-based PI/Gynec Co-PI frequently, including participation in routine calls with the external and internal stakeholders; facilitating institutional support for the project through MPMMCC, Director; coordination with district health officers, village health workers and village leaders to facilitate field activities; liaison with the MPMMCC Pathologist in-charge for establishing smooth operation of pathology workflow, etc.

4) Training, including conducting training of the field staff for the study protocols; facilitate training of the lab technicians in partnership with BD; facilitate training of the store manager; help the study lead gynecologist in the clinical training of nurses, etc.

5) Planning and coordinating community awareness activities with site-PI

6) Serve as 'Superuser' of all study software, including on-phone screening algorithm and web-based data management tool; train additional staff to enter and export data.

7) Periodic Visit to the field to ensure quality of research activities.

8) Lead the data analysis component of the project, including data coding and cleaning including manipulating and harmonizing data from a variety of sources, basic statistical analysis, preparation of reports for presentation or publication in liaison with national and international investigators.

9) Any other research activity as per the project requirement.

Qualifications :

1) MPH or other post-graduate degree with at least 6 years of experience managing complex field-based public health projects is required.

2) Strong scientific writing ability in English.

3) Indian language skills.

4) Experience with data analysis and data cleaning, and research project management are required.

5) Aptitude and interest for meticulous details and planning, willingness to go extra-mile for the project's success, and passionate for public health are all desired qualities.

6) Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Office suite and appropriate statistical software is required.