September

2014

Volume Thirty Five

Number

Nine

CDC Director Reports On Field Visit To Ebola Affected Countries

In This Issue

"...we have lost a very precious and increasingly rarer personality, an epidemiologist for whom the future of human societies

remained wide open, as if he were able to contemplate and believe in some form of utopic place that was fairer and healthier than our current one." -A. Morabia

“I visited all three countries where Ebola is spreading. The men, women and children I met and spoke with, the health care workers responding to people from within countries, patients, the survivors and relatives of those who died will always be with me.” With these haunting words, CDC Director Tom Frieden opened his press briefing on September 2, 2014 to report on his recent trip to Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone in West Africa where Ebola is spreading.

More Than 1,000 Epidemiologists Converge On Anchorage for Triennial Meeting Of The International Epidemiological Association

The scenery did not disappoint, nor did the summer weather. More than 1,000 epidemiologists from more than 30 different countries made their way to cool, sunny, and beautiful Anchorage Alaska in mid-August to participate in the 20th triennial meeting of the International Epidemiological Association. The meeting was bookended by an opening Cruickshank Lecture on

Hopeful About Control According to Frieden, the number of cases continues to increase and is increasing rapidly. CDC has called the situation “daunting” but Frieden appeared still hopeful the outbreak could be brought under control, primarily because we know what to do. According to Frieden, “In theory, its not hard to stop Ebola…There’s nothing mysterious about what we need to do. The only real question is whether we will do it fast enough.” - CDC continues on page 2

climate change by Australia’s Tony (AJ) McMichael and a closing Richard Doll lecture on halving premature mortality given by Oxford University’s Richard Peto. Indigenous dancers also helped to entertain participants and kick off the meeting on the theme of Global Epidemiology in a Changing Environment: The Circumpolar Perspective”. - IEA continues on page 9

The Epidemiology Monitor ISSN (0744-0898) is published monthly (except August) by Roger Bernier, Ph.D., MPH at 33 Indigo Plantation Rd, Okatie, SC, 29909, USA. All rights reserved. Reproduction, distribution, or translation without written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited. Advertising Rates Full Page $995 7.5”w x 10” h Half Page $595 7.5”w x 5” h Quarter Page $295 3.75”w x 5” h Typesetting: $50 Online Ads $395 / mo. Ad Discounts: 10% off ads run 2 consecutive months 20% off ads run 3 or more consecutive months. Advertising Sales Ron Aron 770.670.1946 ron.aron@epimonitor.net All checks must be in U.S.D, drawn on a bank with a U.S. address on the check. Contact Us The Epidemiology Monitor 33 Indigo Plantation Rd, Okatie, SC, 29909 USA 678.361.5170 / Phone call or email for Fax# office@epiMonitor.net

-CDC continued from page 1 Put another way, Frieden told the press “…the epidemic is so overwhelming what it requires is an overwhelming response. Rapidly, effectively deploying resources to tamp it down where it’s spreading wildly.”

To Do List

The list of things to do is not difficult but poses several challenges in the West African context where so many deficiencies and shortcomings in resources of all kinds persist. Included on the to do list are the following which Frieden said need to be carried out consistently and at the scale needed.

• Find patients quickly

• Isolate them effectively and promptly.

• Treat them.

• Make sure their contacts are traced and tracked for 21 days.

• If contacts develop fever, make sure they are tested and treated.

• Make sure health care is safe.

• Make sure burial practices are safe.

Examples of Success

He gave two examples, one with Firestone rubber company in Liberia and one with a military hospital there. Both of these groups had Ebola cases but were able to halt transmission by doing what we know to do with Ebola. Thus, the immediate challenge, according to Frieden, is not to discover new knowledge or develop new

treatments or vaccines, as helpful as these might be someday, but to apply what we already know about how to stop Ebola. The examples cited demonstrate that it can be done in West Africa as has been done elsewhere in Africa.

Expert Comment He quoted one of the most experienced Ebola experts in the world who was in West Africa during his visit and the expert’s statement to Frieden summed up his visit, said Frieden. According to the expert, “What has worked to stop every Ebola outbreak until now will work here if we can get it to scale. That’s the number one challenge”.

Routes of Transmission

According to Frieden, the outbreak is spreading through only two principal means of transmission, namely people caring for other people in hospitals and homes, and unsafe burial practices where people come into contact with body fluids of someone who has died from Ebola.

New Learning

Asked by one of the reporters what he had learned differently about the outbreak after being there, Frieden responded that despite understanding the data as well as they do at CDC, seeing the tremendous increases in cases first hand is different and very difficult. Also, he reiterated, “The challenge is not knowing what to do. The challenge is doing it now. And I come back with that perspective even more forcefully in my mind than [when] I left with it.” ■ 2

Mervyn Susser, an epidemiology colleague with a history of multiple careers beginning in South Africa, then moving to the United Kingdom, and finally to the United States where he headed the department of epidemiology at Columbia University and founded the Sergievsky Center, passed away at his home in Hastings-on-Hudson on August 14, 2014, according to a New York Times obituary. The news was received with sadness at the International Epidemiological Association meeting in Anchorage Alaska in mid-August. Leading epidemiologists in the field called

3

Mervyn Susser, Big Picture Thinker And Pioneer In Epidemiology, Dies At Age 92

"Leading epidemiologists in the field called him a “giant in the field”

Mervyn belonged to that great generation of epidemiologists who helped to shape the scope and form of

chronic disease epidemiology in the 1950’s.

him a “giant in the field” and signaled the loss of a personality “rare” and “very precious” to the field (see articles this issue).

Pioneer

Beginning with his experiences combatting apartheid in South Africa, Susser developed a strong emphasis on the role of social factors in causing disease and he promoted this orientation throughout his career. His first book “Sociology and Medicine” in 1962 enhanced his reputation early on as an innovative thinker about disease,

- Susser continues on page 4

In Appreciation Of Mervyn Susser (1921-2014)

By Nigel Paneth

[Ed. Nigel Paneth of Michigan State University studied with Mervyn Susser at Columbia and conducted an interview of him published in the Voices feature of Epidemiology in 2003. We invited Dr Paneth to provide this up close remembrance of Mervyn Susser.]

I am one of many who had the privilege of having been taught and mentored by Mervyn Susser, and I am surely not alone in deeply feeling and mourning his loss, though he lived as long and productive and exciting a life as anyone could wish for.

Early Career

Mervyn belonged to that great generation of epidemiologists who

helped to shape the scope and form of chronic disease epidemiology in the 1950’s. Born in South Africa and exiled by apartheid, his first academic post - in Manchester - brought him into the orbit of the British wing of those epidemiologic pioneers. But he differed from Jerry Morris and Richard Doll and many of his epidemiologic contemporaries in his deep immersion in the social sciences, and his emphasis on the philosophical and methodological roots of epidemiology. His first book, co-authored with the sociologist William Watson, was titled Sociology in Medicine (1962) and covered a far larger territory than just epidemiology. A necessary narrowing -Appreciation continues on page 5

4

"…Epidemiology keeps your feet on the ground..."

American College of Epidemiology Full obituary http://tinyurl.com/kjztaax Of particular note is the recognition of his numerous contributions to the field and his leadership in by the awarding to him of the American College of Epidemiology’s Abraham M. Lilienfeld Award. He was also a recipient of the John Snow Award from the Epidemiology Section of the American Public Health Association. During the later stages of his career, Susser was a frequent collaborator with his son Ezra, himself a major figure in the field, regarding the state of epidemiology and its development. As one of the architects of modern epidemiology, his vision and energy enlightened and moved the field forward, and we are now the poorer for its absence.

- Susser continues on page 10

- Susser continues from page 3 and he is widely credited with helping the field establish proven methods for studying and treating disease, according to the Times. Columbia University called him “one of the pioneers of epidemiology in the twentieth century”, and noted that “his emphasis on the relationship between society and disease is foundational to the discipline as it is practiced today.”

Causal Thinking

Susser is perhaps best known for the book he authored entitled “Causal Thinking in the Health Sciences” which predated much of the modern work on causality and causal inference. He told Nigel Paneth in a 2003 interview published in Epidemiology that he would like to be most remembered for that work.

Value of Epidemiology Susser served as the editor of the American Journal of Public Health

between 1992 and 1998 and he was always focused on the philosophy and ultimate purpose of epidemiology which he identified clearly as the objective to improve population health. When asked by Paneth what he considered epidemiology’s most important contribution to society, he answered “Ameliorating and improving the health of the public…Epidemiology teaches you how you might go about changing things and be sure that you have changed them for the better, which is not always the case…Epidemiology keeps your feet on the ground and keeps your goals within reachable distance or frames them so they are.” Obituaries Published To Date Obituaries have appeared in multiple locations since mid-August and we reprint below some excerpts from these publications. The Epidemiology Monitor is also publishing two appreciations by Columbia’s Alfredo Morabia and Michigan State University’s Nigel Paneth in this issue.

5

-Appreciation continued from page 3 of his focus to epidemiology came with his appointment, in 1966, as Chair of Epidemiology at the School of Public Health at Columbia University, which already had a division of Sociomedical Sciences. Mervyn once recounted to me how he divided the academic turf with that division’s head, Jack Elinson. Studies whose outcome was a human behavior belonged in Sociomedical Sciences; studies whose outcome was a health disorder belonged in Epidemiology.

Two-Themes

At Columbia, Mervyn developed the two themes for which he is best known – his lifelong engagement with the philosophy of epidemiology, and the establishment of the Dutch Famine Cohort Study with Zena Stein, his wife and colleague. An aside is necessary here. It is difficult to write an appreciation of Mervyn Susser by himself. His work and Zena’s were so wonderfully intertwined that I sometimes think I was taught by a single epidemiologist named MervynandZena. It is generally assumed that one arena that Mervyn took as his own province was the exploration of the conceptual bases of epidemiologic thought and practice. Yet even here one must note his dedication to Causal Thinking in the Health Sciences (1973) - “This book is for Zena, with her, and of her”.

Health Consequences

Mervyn was an epidemiologist fully engaged with the social and political implications of epidemiology. This was most strongly manifest in his lifelong struggle against apartheid, which began in the 1940’s alongside

Mandela, Sisulu, Tambo and other ANC leaders. His anti-apartheid activities led to his being forced to resign from his clinical post in Alexandra township and his departure for England. Their home in Hastings, NY was ever full of political exiles visiting or finding refuge. Zena would sometimes remind us that Mervyn was just continuing his father’s profession; Solomon Susser had been an innkeeper in the remote Transvaal.

Dutch Famine Study

Mervyn knew how to separate the political from the scientific. The Dutch Famine study revealed that, contrary to popular wisdom at the time, a famine so desperately severe that many women delivered weighing less than they had at conception, and where birthweight at the famine peak dropped by 250 grams, produced no deleterious effect on adult IQ (at least in men, where data were available). I once witnessed a presentation of these data where a progressive physician argued that the data should be censored because they could be used to obstruct prenatal nutrition programs. But Famine and Human Development: The Dutch Hunger Winter of 1944-1945 (1975) and numerous papers argued firmly for the validity of these negative findings. Criticism also flew in when Mervyn, Zena and their colleague David Rush published the findings of the Harlem Prenatal Nutrition trial which showed that nutritional supplementation in pregnancy had very modest effects on fetal growth, and adding protein to the diet might actually harm fetal growth. These experiences showed that overturning received knowledge -Appreciation continues on page 6

"I sometimes think I was

taught by a single epidemiologist

named MervynandZena."

"Mervyn was an epidemiologist fully engaged with the social and political implications of epidemiology."

6

-Appreciation continued from page 5 is not always taken kindly in academe, and I learned from Mervyn and Zena that good scientists carefully separate science from advocacy.

Mentor

Mervyn was an extraordinary mentor. As a lecturer, he lacked the flair for drama that makes for good student ratings, but in a small group he exuded wisdom. He could find a scientific context and precedent for any topic under discussion, and he had an uncanny ability to get to the heart of an issue, discarding the irrelevant. In practical matters, such as the construction of a field team or the development of a research budget, he saved many of his younger colleagues from serious errors. He looked for the

best in people, especially younger scientists whose abilities were not yet fully developed or even apparent. He was encouraging without being uncritical, as anyone who went through dozens of drafts of a paper with him will remember.

Giant In The Field

Born in a remote African village, his education interrupted by six years of WW II military service, and with hardly any formal education in epidemiology, he nonetheless became a giant in our field. And he nourished many epidemiologists, including his son Ezra and his nephew Aryeh Stein, making epidemiology into a family business. But in the warmth of the MervynandZena world we were all family. ■

"...we have lost a very

precious and increasingly

rarer personality..."

"Born in a remote African village... he nonetheless

became a giant in our field."

In Remembrance Of Mervyn Susser By Alfredo Morabia

[Ed. We invited Columbia University’s Alfredo Morabia, a university colleague of Mervyn Susser and an epidemiologist with a historical perspective on the field of epidemiologist to sum up in brief Dr Susser’s place in epidemiology. He composed the following statement which captures the magnitude of the loss.] Many scholarly things can be and will be said about Mervyn’s contribution to epidemiology and his distinct voice over the last 50 years, but my immediate concern is that we have lost a very precious and increasingly rarer personality, an epidemiologist for whom the future of human societies remained wide open, as if he were able to contemplate and believe in some form of utopic place that was fairer and healthier than our current one. ■

Mervyn and Zena Susser

epidemiology.

The latest 2014 report from Journal Citation Reports provides its ranking of journals by its “impact factor” metric and it ranks the International Journal of Epidemiology as having the highest impact factor in this category of 160 journals (see table below). The impact factor reflects the number of citations which an “average article” in the journal receives as a measure of the influence of the journal content. Whatever readers think about the merits or demerits of journal impact factors, most of the leading epidemiology journals promote or provide their impact factors on the home pages of their websites.

Use Of Impact Factors The only exception we could find among the leading journals is Epidemiology where several critiques of the impact factor have been published in the past. The International Journal of Epidemiology (IJE) touts the latest result on its home page and the indicator was mentioned proudly in different settings at the recent triennial meeting of the sponsoring International Epidemiological Association (IEA) in Anchorage.

Criticisms Critics we spoke to said the impact factor is a poor marker of quality, one reason being that journals can publish editorials with self-citations which tends to increase

the impact factor, and another being that high quality papers may appeal to only a small readership and therefore influence negatively the impact factor metric.

IEA Statement According to a statement on the IEA news page, “The 2013 impact factor ratings place the IJE first out of a field of 160 journals. Since taking up the editorship of the IJE at the turn of the millennium, George Davey Smith and Shah Ebrahim have slowly but surely driven the journal up the impact factor rankings. However, this year it made a major leap to outstrip its main American rivals: Environmental Health Perspectives and Epidemiologic Reviews (both frequently ranked first), Epidemiology, and the American Journal of Epidemiology. Paul Kidd of Oxford University Press, which publishes the IJE, commented: ‘An increase of this magnitude in one year is very rare and a great result for the IJE. This is a triumph for the hard work and dedication of the Editors and Editorial Board.’” We welcome reader comments on the current crop of impact factors for 2013. Below is a table providing the impact factors for the top 25 public health journals. The table is adapted from the Lamar Soutter library at the University of Massachusetts which provides this listing free of charge on its website. -Impact continues on page 8

"...the impact factor is a poor marker of quality..."

“An increase of this magnitude in one year is very rare and a great result..."

7

International Journal Of Epidemiology Reported To Have Highest Impact Factor

Jumps By 30% From 2012 To 2013

8

-Impact continued from page 7

Journal Impact Factor

International Journal of Epidemiology

9.197

Epidemiologic Reviews

7.333

Environmental Health Perspectives

7.029

Annual Review of Public Health

6.627

Epidemiology 6.178

Journal of Clinical Epidemiology

5.478

Tobacco Control 5.150

European Journal of Epidemiology

5.147

Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health Part B: Critical Reviews

5.146

Bulletin of the World Health Organization

5.112

American Journal of Epidemiology

4.975

Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention

4.324

American Journal of Preventive Medicine

4.281

Journal Impact Factor

American Journal of Public Health

4.229

Environmental Research

3.951

Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology

3.938

Health Reports 3.314

Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health

3.294

International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health

3.276

Occupational and Environmental Medicine

3.234

Scandinavian Journal of Public Health

3.125

Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health

3.095

Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology

3.050

Cancer Causes & Control

2.961

Genetic Epidemiology 2.951

Adapted from the Lamar Soutter Library at the University of Massachusetts.

9

-IEA continued from page 1 Other Highlights Other highlights included sessions on climate change and circumpolar health and epidemiology, autism and other neurodevelopmental diseases, progress in polio eradication, and innovations in epidemiologic methods. Several topics of ongoing interest to epidemiologists were also explored including presentations on the creation of a world council of epidemiology, data sharing successes and challenges, and the new dictionary of epidemiology. A special session was organized on conflicts of interest triggered but not focused on the revelations about the activities of the late Patricia Buffler whose untimely death forced the IEA to identify a new President to take office in Anchorage. The newly selected president is Oxford University’s Valerie Beral.

Testimonial for Pat Buffler A very personal testimonial to Pat Buffler was offered at the opening of the IEA business meeting by Kirk Smith, a University of California colleague of Buffler’s.

Smith described Pat Buffler as one of the principal cancer epidemiologists in the world and an inspiration to all who knew her. According to Smith, she was generous, gracious with a flair, warm, patient, kind, and happy. She found joy in the success of others, said Smith. He noted that one of Buffler’s favorite slogans is the one often included with cartoons depicting sled dogs which reads“If you’re not the leader, the view never

changes!” Buffler took this advice seriously since she was eulogized as “the most elected epidemiology leader in history”. The IEA presented a lifetime achievement award to Buffler’s family in her memory.

Ebola Virus Outbreak The meeting took place against the backdrop of the ongoing Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa and several African epidemiologists were on hand to offer accounts, some of them first-hand, of the challenges being faced in battling the outbreak in the affected countries. Immediately following the meeting, the IEA Council strongly endorsed the joint statement of the World Federation of Public Health Associations and African Federation Public Health Association on the severity and urgency of the Ebola Epidemic in several West African Countries. This statement expresses solidarity with the affected populations, salutes the dedication and efforts of the health workers involved, a readiness and willingness “to lend whatever assistance is needed and appropriate to national and global health authorities.” Statements by New President Beral In remarks made to the membership at the business meeting, Beral told the attendees that she agreed to stand in for Pat Buffler to honor her memory. She noted that she was only the second woman to hold the office of the President of the IEA out of the 20 or so that have held that office over the years. According to Beral, the IEA was -IEA continues on page 10

"...she was generous,

gracious with a flair, warm, patient, kind, and happy."

“If you’re not the leader, the view never changes!”

10

Columbia University Department of Epidemiology 2x2 Newsletter Newsletter Link: http://tinyurl.com/ncyusft This newsletter from February 2011 quotes several colleagues speaking out about Susser’s contributions. “One nugget in Sociology in Medicine frames my entire career. It reads as follows, ‘Societies in part create the disease they experience and, further, they materially shape the way diseases are to be experienced.’ As a social epidemiologist my job is to understand the social ‘creating’ and ‘shaping’ of population health and to effectively communicate that understanding to others.” —Dr. Bruce Link “Mervyn put THINKING back into epidemiology and he is thoroughly impatient with cookbook approaches that undermine serious, incisive thinking.” —Dr. Louise Kuhn “The totality of Mervyn’s work weaves a path to understanding the underlying goals of epidemiology; they are truly to have a macro to micro perspective on health and disease, from the social environment to subcellular processes.” —Dr. Pam Factor-Litvak “To me, one of Dr. Susser’s most influential works is Causal Thinking in the Health Sciences. Its clarity and economy make it a timeless reference and a pleasure to read. Dr. Susser is a truly integrative thinker, a brilliant epidemiologist, and an extraordinary writer. In this slim volume, he demonstrates beautifully that epidemiology is at once a science and an art.” —Dr. Dana March ■

- Susser continues from page 4

-IEA continued from page 9 founded to promote the use of epidemiology and its application to the solution of health problems. She said this purpose is still valid today. She gave a preview of the Doll Lecture by Richard Peto as her example of the value of epidemiology. Peto has an article scheduled to appear in the September 19 issue of The Lancet on halving premature mortality which

he has discussed for many years now. According to Beral, the probability of death for persons under age 50 has been cut in half in some large populations between 1970 and 2010. She said that research has contributed to these declines, and that “epidemiologists have a lot to do with this”. ■

New York Times Full obituary: http://tinyurl.com/kle4cjg Dr. Susser saw his field change over his career, and he worried at times that epidemiology was shifting from public health to what he called “big science,” detached from directly serving people. In the 2003 interview, he recalled how he and his wife turned to medicine after witnessing apartheid and then seeing Jews and other populations killed during World War II.“The social and political commitment we then made stayed with us,” he said. “It all flowed from the anti-apartheid struggle and broadened into human rights, something one had to pay attention to and do what one could.”

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF EPIDEMIOLOGY

The Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh invites applications for a full-time faculty position at the level of Assistant Professor. The position is available immediately and requires a doctoral degree in epidemiology or a related discipline with post-doctoral training in Epidemiology. Candidates should have training and experience in the conduct and analysis of large cohort studies and/or prevention clinical trials of chronic disease. Successful candidates will be responsible for developing research in the epidemiology of adverse birth outcomes, which could include preterm birth & infant mortality and the environmental, behavioral, social or biologic determinates. Of particular interest are candidates who bring expertise in novel risk assessment methodologies applied to human population research. These may include biochemical, statistical, genetic, geographic or imaging methods or behavioral or environmental monitoring. The position will require that candidate obtain independent research grant funding, publish manuscripts and develop an independent program of research. Successful candidate will also develop coursework and mentor master and doctoral degree students within the epidemiology program. The position is in the tenure stream. Salary will be commensurate with experience. Applications will be reviewed until position is filled. Send letter of intent, curriculum vitae, and the names of three references to: Position # 0002813, c/o Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, A528 Crabtree Hall, 130 DeSoto Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, E-mail: dlb22@pitt.edu. The University of Pittsburgh is an Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity Employer.

Quantitative Post-Doctoral Position (Substance Abuse, Epidemiology, Clinical Trials)

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine

POSITION ENTAILS: analyze longitudinal datasets, conduct literature reviews, prepare reports, write/publish manuscripts, and assist project work as assigned. Position Open Until Filled. REQUIREMENTS:

1. Longitudinal data analysis skills (survey, observational, or clinical trial datasets).

2. A doctoral degree in quantitative research methods, epidemiology, demography, psychology, public health, or a related discipline.

3. An interest in substance use research (tobacco, alcohol, other drugs)

4. Excellent writing skills.

CONTACT: Interested applicants should email a letter of interest, curriculum vitae, a writing sample, and the names of three references to: Li-Tzy Wu, ScD, Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine; litzy.wu@duke.edu

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Assistant Professor Epidemiology

The University of Nevada, Reno, School of Community Health Sciences is seeking candidates for two full-time faculty positions in Epidemiology. Research and teaching interests in Chronic Disease Epidemiology or Environmental Epidemiology are preferred, but all candidates will be considered. Duties include: teaching graduate and undergraduate students, advising graduate students, developing an independent program of scholarship, and engaging in University, community, and professional service appropriate for a university faculty member. The University of Nevada, Reno, School of Community Health Sciences seeks two innovative, energetic scientists for tenure track faculty positions in Epidemiology at the rank of Assistant Professor. The school offers an accredited MPH in Epidemiology and Social-Behavioral Health, a BS in Community Health Sciences and is seeking accreditation for several MPH and PhD programs. The successful applicants are expected to: teach graduate (MPH and PhD) and undergraduate courses in epidemiology; advise graduate students; develop and maintain an independent program of scholarship; and engage in University, community, and professional service. The scenic University of Nevada, Reno campus, in sight of the Sierra Nevada mountains, is located 45 minutes from Lake Tahoe and four hours from San Francisco and the Napa-Sonoma wine country. The Reno/Tahoe area is a recreational paradise, close to world-class skiing and snowboarding, kayaking, hiking and bicycling. Reno is home to an emerging technology sector, with a vibrant arts and restaurant scene. For a complete position description and requirements, please go to: https://www.unrsearch.com/postings/15760

UNC-China Epidemiology/Modelling

Position at SYSU

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) is accepting applications for one hybrid US-China early career researcher positions supported by a D43 training grant from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). This position will focus on undertaking cutting edge research in the field of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in South China and include US-based training activities in order to prepare these individuals to become independent PIs. Research will focus on STIs, but prior research experience in STIs is not required to apply. Early career researchers will participate in Center meetings and training opportunities, work with training faculty on existing or newly developed STI research training projects, and receive support to publish manuscripts and write research grants. Trainees will receive a one year appointment with salary and benefits package consistent with NIH standards with an option to extend to a second year contingent on meeting benchmarks.

How to apply Eligible Chinese applicants will have completed a PhD in epidemiology or modelling within the past 10 years. Applicants must be residents of Mainland China, Hong Kong, or Taiwan. Applicants with a PhD in relevant areas of expertise and with research experience in epidemiology, biostatistics and/or modelling are encouraged to apply. Overseas experience is preferred, but not required. Minority and women applicants are encouraged to apply. Interested applicants should submit English versions of their CV, cover letter expressing interest in the position, and names of three professional references to Ye Zhang at the email address below. Ye Zhang, UNC-South China STI Research Training Center, Email: cetacean.413@hotmail.com,Tel: (86) 13763304075 For full job description, please go to http://www.gdvdc.com

The Institute of Human Virology Division of Epidemiology and Prevention invites applications for the position of Professor, Tenure Track

The Institute of Human Virology (www.ihv.org) under the direction of Robert C. Gallo, MD is expanding research in Viral Epidemiology, including HIV/AIDS and other viruses, to enrich an already robust campus-wide program in domestic and international research. Applicants will engage in individual and collaborative research that draws upon the expertise of scientists from the Institute of Human Virology, The Greenebaum Cancer Center, the Institute for Genome Sciences, and the affiliated international sites. Candidates should be willing to spend a significant amount of time building and maintaining international and domestic extramurally funded research programs focused on infectious diseases and/or virus-associated cancer epidemiology with research interest in global health. Formal training in epidemiology with peer-reviewed publications and a track record in extramural research funding in the field is required. Applicants should submit a cover letter, CV, research statement, and contact information for three references to Deborah Mullins, demullins@ihv.umaryland.edu. For more information, please visit: http://epimonitor.net/2014-1697.htm

Center for the Study and Prevention of

Suicide

Epidemiology - Health Svc Research Position

The Veterans Administration VISN 2 Center of Excellence (CoE) for Suicide Prevention, Canandaigua (NY) VA Medical Center, together with its academic affiliate, the Center for the Study and Prevention of Suicide at the University of Rochester Medical Center, is seeking a junior investigator or a mid-career researcher to conduct public health, epidemiological, and/or health services research involving Veterans, with a focus on suicide risk and prevention. Training and experience conducting epidemiological studies, public health research, and/or health services studies on suicidal behavior and/or on populations at risk for suicidal behavior is required, and it is expected that the successful candidate will have the ability to obtain research funding. The position provides considerable “hard money” salary support for this position, with the expectation that s/he will develop a program of research supported by additional external funding. The incumbent will be eligible for a faculty appointment at the University of Rochester Medical Center, which is commensurate with experience.

Position: Health Science Specialist, GS-13. Send cover letter and vita to: Kenneth R. Conner, PsyD, MPH, CoE Director, ken.conner@va.gov, and copy Ms. Lisa Lochner, lisa.lochner@va.gov.

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