Paediatrician (Specialist Clinician Scientist) (R809A) - Closing Date: 27 November 2024

HIV AND OTHER INFECTIOUS DISEASES RESEARCH UNIT

(PRETORIA)

The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) strives to improve the nation’s health and quality of life by funding and conducting relevant and leading health research. It further aims to promote equity, career development and progression.

PAEDIATRICIAN (SPECIALIST CLINICIAN SCIENTIST)

Duration: 1 year contract

The SAMRC’s HIV and Other Infectious Diseases Research Unit (HIDRU) is a large, dynamic research unit conducting HIV-related clinical trials in at least five clinical research sites in Durban. The Unit aims to contribute towards finding a vaccine and optimizing pre-exposure prophylaxis to prevent HIV infection amongst men, women, mothers, and children. The Unit is committed to building the next generation of clinician scientists through a dedicated career progression pathway for clinicians. The Unit seeks to appoint a dedicated, industrious, persevering, passionate, committed, and motivated paediatrician interested in pursuing a career in clinical research. The incumbent will work with existing Principal Investigators, Clinical Site Research Leaders, and Clinicians to manage the clinical aspects of child-related HIV prevention trials and could work towards building a research career. Training opportunities include support for pursuing higher degrees such as Master’s or PhD.

As a Paediatrician for the SAMBULELO trial the incumbent will be required to have a good understanding of paediatric clinical management including common illnesses, interpreting blood results, preventing vertical transmission of HIV, managing HIV infection in children and mothers, paediatric resuscitation, and clinical safety management. The incumbent will oversee the setting up of paediatric HIV prevention studies, including SOP development, training of site staff, data reviewing and cleaning, overseeing progress with data management, overseeing safety results and meeting of the internal and independent safety committee. The incumbent will be responsible for overseeing the work of the counsellor, nurses and research assistants working on the same study, and will need to oversee the conduct of interviews in adherence with study protocols and good clinical practice guidelines. When necessary, the incumbent will also be overseeing all documents, ensuring that they are appropriately translated and will be responsible for quality control of the informed consent process and informed consent documents. The incumbent will be required to organize, co-ordinate and provide support to the core team, and will need to organize and attend partner, steering committee-, safety adjudication committee and Data Safety and Monitoring Board -meetings. The incumbent will also be required to provide training and support to site staff by conducting field-site visits.

Responsibilities:

• Clinical and safety management:
  • Perform clinical activities related to the trial including clinical assessments, specimen collection, laboratory results review, oversight of the safety of study participants, determination of clinical eligibility, and administration of study product.
  • Conduct clinical interviews and administer study questionnaires.
  • Follow up, assess, and manage Adverse events (AEs), including serious AEs.
  • Undertake after hours and weekend work as required.
  • Rotate across clinical research sites and provide back-up where and when required.

• Clinical document management:
  • Complete all required study-related documentation according to the study protocol, Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and Good Clinical Practice (GCP) requirements.
  • Report AEs, EAEs, and SAEs, document AEs, EAEs, and SAEs and write reports as needed.

• Project Management:
  • Ensure successful implementation of paediatric-related studies.
  • Conduct regular quality control checks to ensure accuracy of clinical data collection and good quality data.
  • Write reports / narratives / detailed chart notes as required.

• Research outputs:
  • Contribute to unit documents, technical reports, posters, presentations and peer-reviewed publications.
  • Assist with the conceptualization of new research ideas.
  • Work towards leading new research projects within the unit.
  • Apply for small grants to support new work or sub-studies.

• Stakeholder Management / Research Translation
• Clinical Training / staff capacity development:
  • Train new clinicians, nurses and capacitate the research team at site level and within the Unit.
• Income generation

Core Requirements:

• MBChB with paediatrics specialization (College of Medicine of South Africa).
• HPCSA registration as a specialist paediatrician.
• Clinical assessment and management skills of:
  • Common Childhood Illnesses.
  • Paediatric HIV prevention.
  • Paediatric HIV.
• Computer Literate.
• Driver’s license (08).

Advantageous:

• MMed Paediatrics.
• Diploma in HIV management (College of Medicine of South Africa).
• MPS (or equivalent) registration (NB: MPS registration must be active before starting the position).
• Recent APLS / or PALS or equivalent.
• 1-2 years’ experience working in paediatric HIV.
• 1-2 years’ experience managing paediatric HIV research studies.
• SOP development.
• Supervision of a team.
• Experience in a clinical trial.
• Knowledge of electronic and paper-based systems for data capture (REDCap, (Mobile/Online Application) or another system).
• Fluency in spoken and written, English and IsiZulu/ Northern Sotho / Sepedi / Setswana.

Terms & Conditions: The SAMRC retains the right not to make an appointment. In accordance with the SAMRC’s Employment Equity Plan, preference will be given to suitably qualified candidates from the designated groups. For this reason, we require race, gender, and disability status to be specified. Disabled persons are encouraged to apply. By submitting your application, SAMRC concludes that you are a competent person to consent and that you are giving consent to the SAMRC to process and further process all personal information contained in the application in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act, Act No 4 of 2013 (as amended).

A salary in the region of R 1 481 778 per annum, cost-to-company will be negotiated in accordance with qualifications and experience.

Closing date: 27 November 2024

PLEASE QUOTE THE REFERENCE NUMBER (R809A) IN ALL COMMUNICATIONS. PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT YOUR SUBMISSION WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED SHOULD YOUR APPLICATION NOT BE ACCOMPANIED BY THE REQUIRED INFORMATION AND DOCUMENTATION.