Postdoctoral Research Fellow

**Main purpose of the job**:

- To determine how extended households negotiate and provide care to people with ADRD; and how the health and well-being of all caregivers are affected by care roles

**Location**:

- **Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga Province**

**More Info**:

- The MRC/Wits-Agincourt Research Unit is a leading health and population research center that supports a major research infrastructure including a health and socio-demographic surveillance system (HDSS) covering the Agincourt sub-district of rural Mpumalanga Province adjacent to Mozambique. Taking a life course approach, the Unit undertakes interdisciplinary observational and intervention research collaborating with scientists from South and sub-Saharan African, UK/European, and North American institutions.
- The postdoctoral position relates to an ongoing funded grant that is investigating how families and friends provide care and support in the context of dementia within the MRC/Wits-Agincourt research area. The grant is co-led by Professor Lenore Manderson and Associate Professor Guy Harling. Professor Manderson is a Medical Anthropologist with extensive research experience across three continents. Dr Harling is a Social Epidemiologist and Wellcome Trust/Royal Society Sir Henry Dale Fellow at University College London who has worked in South Africa since 2004. This position will support his work, in the context of this grant, on how social connections and social networks both place people at risk for and protect them against, poor health outcomes.
- The study is concerned with (1) how extended households negotiate and provide care to people with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD); and (2) how the health and well-being of all caregivers are affected by care roles. The study is multidisciplinary, involving both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis, including quantitative surveys to determine patterns of care and health among residents, non-resident kin, and non-kin. Data collection is largely completed at this time.
- The position can be based in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga Province, where Wits offers several accommodation options, or the School of Public Health and related departments in Johannesburg. There may be an opportunity for travel to the United Kingdom to collaborate with Dr Harling and to attend conferences abroad. **The fellowship is tenable until 31 May 2024.**

**Required minimum education and training**
- **Doctorate awarded within past 5 years (or pending)**:

- **Background in a relevant discipline(s), including Epidemiology, Biostatistics, or related quantitative social sciences**:

- **Evidence of high academic and scholarly potential**:

- **English language proficiency, strong conceptual and writing skills**

**Desirable additional education, work experience, and personal abilities**:

- Evidence of interest in research on social networks, aging, caregiving, or dementia

**TO APPLY**:

- **Only if you do meet the minimum job requirements and experience as mentioned above, you may submit a detailed updated CV as well as a cover letter outlining your interest and suitability for this position.**:

- Please take note that the applicants who do not adhere to the above criteria will not be considered for the respective position.
- Note AJ Personnel is fully POPI compliant.
- Note WHC, in accordance with their Employment Equity goals and plan, will give preference to suitable applicants from designated groups as defined in the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 and subsequent amendments thereto.

**Please note**:

- **AJ PERSONNEL is only responsible for the advertising of the advertisement on behalf of their client Wits Health Consortium.**:

- **AJ Personnel does not have any salary or other information regarding the position.