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Australian Research Council (ARC) Postgraduate Fellowship (APAI) at the University of Adelaide

Position Requirements | Further Information | Applications

An ARC fellowship worth $30,000 per annum for three years is available to fund a PhD in the combined areas of health economics, maths and statistics at the University of Adelaide. The broad focus of the PhD is the development of a full disease model for obesity.

Full disease models describe the incidence and progression of disease over the lifetime of a defined set of patients. New interventions may then be evaluated by modelling how disease pathways are altered as a result of intervention.

Obesity is growing problem in most developed countries, and is a risk factor for a wide range of secondary events, including diabetes, stroke, and cardiovascular disease. Interventions to handle obesity range from population-based prevention programs to individually targeted treatments (e.g. gastric banding). A full disease model facilitates the evaluation of the whole range of interventions, either individually or in combination.

An obesity disease model should describe the profile of obesity in a geographically-defined population as a function of relevant characteristics of the population, such as age, sex, socioeconomic status, etc. The model then describes how that profile, and the incidence and effects of secondary events, changes over time in the absence of new interventions.

An added requirement is that the model facilitates the capture of cost and quality of life information associated with events and their effects. Costs are incurred as a result of interventions to reduce obesity or to treat secondary events, whilst quality of life may be a function of obesity levels and secondary events.

The full disease modelling approach has been successfully applied to the evaluation of screening programmes, though significant methodological gaps remain. The application of the technique to a new area will create new challenges, as well as the scope to address existing deficiencies. As the recognised importance of public and preventative interventions grows, so too does the need for robust methods of evaluation. The results of this research will have far reaching relevance.

Position Requirements

The successful candidate will have a quantitative background, and a strong interest in health care research.

The PhD will be jointly supervised by Associate Professor Jon Karnon (Health Economics), Dr Gary Glonek (Statistics), Professor Nigel Bean (Maths), and Professor Philip Ryan (Medical Statistics), with easy access to relevant clinical advice from renowned researchers in the obesity field.

Further Information

For further details or to discuss the fellowship, please contact Associate Professor Jon Karnon by email, or telephone: 8303 3562.

Eligibility for the APAI fellowship is restricted to persons with either permanent residency or citizenship of Australian or New Zealand.

Applications

Deadline: Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.

To apply, please send a covering letter and CV to Associate Professor Jon Karnon by email, or forward to:

Level 9
10 Pultney Street
Maildrop 207
The University of Adelaide
SOUTH AUSTRALIA 5005