Specialist Clinician Scientist: Paediatrician

**HIV AND OTHER INFECTIOUS DISEASES RESEARCH UNIT**

**(DURBAN OFFICE)**

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: Two -Year Contract - 1 post

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. The post holder will assist with and form an integral part of the SAMRC’s transformation agenda.

As a Paediatrician for the PedMAb and other studies, 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 based at the RK Khan site in Chatsworth.

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 be also 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 an attend partner-, steering committee-, and technical advisor-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 AEs, EAEs, and SAEs
- Undertake after hours and weekend work as required
- Provide back up and specialist support across the paediatric studies at all HIDRU sites

**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 as required

**Research outputs**:

- Contribute to unit documents and publications
- Assist with the conceptualization of new research ideas
- Work towards leading new research projects within the unit

**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) or relevant higher qualification.
- HPCSA and MPS (or equivalent) registration
- Clinical assessment and management skills of:

- Common Childhood Illnesses
- Paediatric HIV prevention,
- Management of Paediatric HIV
- Computer Literate

**Advantageous**:

- MMed Paediatrics
- Diploma in HIV management (College of Medicine of South Africa)
- Recent APLS / or PALS or equivalent
- SOP development
- Supervision of a