Epicentre is a non-profit organisation created in 1987 by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which groups health professionals specialised in public health and epidemiology. In 1996, Epicentre became a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Research in Epidemiology and Response to Emerging Diseases.
Epicentre carries out operational research studies, mainly within MSF movement from its headquarters in Paris, satellites in Geneva, Brussels, New-York, and two field research bases in Mbarara, Uganda, and Maradi, Niger. Further, Epicentre offers its expertise to organisations requesting short-term field epidemiological studies in developing countries.
Within the scope of clinical research, Epicentre focuses on infectious diseases, particularly malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, African trypanosomiasis, bacterial meningitis, measles, diarrheal diseases, and hemorrhagic fevers.
Context
In 1995, Epicentre created a permanent research base in Uganda to support MSF projects in the region. In 1997, Epicentre conducted its first survey on shigella resistance in Mbarara. The primary role of Epicentre in Mbarara is to conduct clinical research following Good Clinical Practice (GCP) requirements, on critical public health burdens in Uganda and Africa. To reach this objective, Epicentre collaborates closely with the Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST). A full-time experienced research team is based at the Epicentre Mbarara Research Base (EMRB). After a period characterized by research projects mainly oriented toward clinical trials on malaria, our research activity has been recently extended to include projects on tuberculosis, infectious diseases in children and HIV/AIDS.
The Mbarara research base is located in Mbarara Municipality, a town of 69,000 persons located 300 km South-West to Kampala. Mbarara District has a population of approximately 600,000 inhabitants, and is mainly rural. The main health facility is Mbarara National Referral Hospital which is also a teaching hospital for the MUST. This is the referral hospital for the Western region of Uganda with a capacity of 240 beds. The research base is structured into several departments: medical, administration, logistics, laboratory and information systems.
Mission
The Information Systems Coordinator will participate with the Director of the Research Base, the Logistics Coordinator, the Financial and Human Resources Coordinator, the Laboratory Coordinator and the Medical Coordinator in the development and implementation of the research base strategic plan. He/She will contribute to the good running of the research base by managing all issues related to IT, data management, record keeping and archiving.
Position
The Information System Coordinator is the head of the Information System department. He/She will work with a team of 10 people: an IT manager, data managers, a records officer, data entry clerks and a clinical registrar. He/She is under the hierarchical position of the Director of the Research Base in Mbarara and is part of the management team.
Principal responsibilities
- Participation to the overall coordination of the Research Base With the Director of the Research Base, the Laboratory Coordinator, the Medical Coordinator, the Logistics Coordinator and the Financial and Human Resources Coordinator :
• Participate in management meetings . • Contribute to the annual strategic review . • Participate in coordination meetings with study representatives.
- In charge of System and Network Administration of the research base Under responsibility of the System Administrator based in Paris headquarter :
• Participate to the implementation, operation, maintenance and security of the local area network of the research base. • Participate to the implementation, operation, maintenance and security of scientific IT equipment and accessories. • Participate to the process for backup operations and disaster recovery of scientific data on backup media so as to guarantee the integrity of archives and online files for scientific users. • Contribute to the definition of an information system master plan for frequency of hardware and software upgrades and replacement. • Contribute to the technology watch in system and network administration.
- Responsibility for the data management activities of the research base
• Ensure all data management activities are GCP compliant. • Contribute to the development of study-specific case report forms (CRF). • Develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to standardize data management procedures, and ensure their compliance. • Develop study-specific data management plans, including the data validation plan, error verification and data cleaning. • Develop study-specific databases and data entry templates. • Ensure timely data entry and double data entry validation, if needed. • Under request, produce reports on status of data collection, data entry and data clarification forms generated through data cleaning. • Ensure the appropriate specifications for data management softwares. • Ensure scientific staff training on new data management softwares as needed.
- Supervision of record management and archiving
• Ensure the development and implementation of an Archive and Records management policy. • Ensure the records are kept in adequate conditions. • Ensure the development and maintenance of a logbook to trace all records movement. • Ensure record management and storage are compliant with GCP standards.
Candidate requirements
Mandatory • Bachelor degree in Information Systems, Computer Science or Biostatistics • Experience in computer information systems and network maintenance and support • Experience in data management in clinical research • Experience in using relational databases in SQL and in database modelling • Experience in programme language such as PHP, Java, Python, C++ • Working knowledge of EpiData • Experience in team supervision • Strong interest in clinical research • Previous professional experience in developing countries • Fluent in English (written and oral) • Good communication and negotiation skills
Assets/Plus • Knowledge of GCP • Intermediate knowledge in biostatistics, use of statistical software such as STATA.
Conditions
• Volunteer MSF/Epicentre status 1 year contract starting mid-september 2012 • Place: Mbarara, UGANDA • Deadline of application: 15 august 2012
Please send your CV and a motivation letter by e-mail to Nathalie Guérineau at job@epicentre.msf.org with ref CIS/UG .
For additional information, please contact the Director of the research base in Mbarara: yap.boum@epicentre.msf.org
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