Statistician in Public Health England

Public Health England will provide strategic leadership and vision for protecting and improving the nation’s health. Its ambition is to lead nationally and enable locally a transformation in the health expectations of all people in England regardless of where they live and the circumstance of their birth. It will achieve this through the application of research, knowledge and skills. Public Health England will be an executive agency of the Department of Health, and will start on 1 April 2013. It will be a distinct delivery organisation with operational autonomy to advise and support Government, local authorities and the NHS in a professionally independent manner.
Priority consideration for this post will be given to applicants, in line with the National Policy on the Process for Filling of Posts and the PHE Recruitment Controls:
• Staff who are 'at risk' or affected by change and who are in a function transferring to Public Health England (PHE) will have prior consideration for this post. Staff who are in the same grade and currently in the same region who have not secured a post through the job matching process will be given priority consideration for this vacancy. Applicants who are not in the same grade and/or region will be considered in order in accordance with the agreed exception to the National Policy & Process on Filling of Posts in Receiving Organisations, as agreed with the PHE Partnership Working Group.

• priority will be given to displaced staff within the Civil Service

• Priority will be given to all staff within the Civil Service, including DH, MHRA and any accredited ALBs (ie HPA), with flexibility to allow promotion. Also, all staff within current PHE senders (irrespective of functional transfer) are able to apply for these posts, including both specialist and non-specialist roles


An exciting opportunity has arisen for a statistician to conduct empirical data collection on sexual behaviour, and analyse in detail the local heterogeneity in chlamydia disease burden and coverage of testing to identify causes of disparities. The analysis will contribute to the development of a user-friendly tool to enable decision makers to explore the costs, benefits and uncertainties of introducing point-of-care (POC) testing for chlamydia infection in different clinical settings and target populations. This tool will use a dynamic transmission model of chlamydia infection, which will be developed by another person employed on this project. The project is funded by the Technology Strategy Board and is led by the HPA, with a strong group of inter-disciplinary collaborators (including Johns Hopkins, Oxford, Queen Mary, St George's, UCL, and industrial partners) involved.

This project will improve our understanding of fundamental epidemiology of chlamydia as well as developing a valuable tool. The post-holder will gain valuable experience working closely with epidemiologists, statisticians, modellers and health economists at the HPA and experts in collaborating institutions to analyse the extensive data-sets that the HPA holds (National Chlamydia Screening Programme; Genito-Urinary Medicine Clinic Activity Dataset; and Chlamydia Testing Activity Dataset) and to help develop the transmission model at the heart of the decision-makers' tool. Other data that will inform the work come from the recently-completed MSTIC (Maximising STI Control) study, census data on population demography, and new data collected from clinic patients as part of this study.

The post-holder will lead on the statistical and epidemiological analysis required for this project. The diversity of chlamydia epidemiology at the local level needs to be characterised to ensure that the transmission model can represent the range of patterns observed. The post-holder will also be required to undertake empirical data collection (a survey of patient sexual behaviour in between being tested for chlamydia, receiving the result, and being treated) and to publish findings in peer-review papers. The post will be based in the HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections Department.

In summary, we are seeking an able statistician with proven high-level statistical skills and an interest in epidemiology or public health. The successful applicant will have the ability to work well in a team with colleagues in statistics, epidemiology and modelling disciplines, as well as independently.

Candidates must be able to start by 1st July.


Applicants are strongly advised to use the criteria in the person specification (available online) as sub-headings in their application to make it clear how they meet each of the selection criteria.

For further information / an informal discussion about the post, please contact Dr Anthony Nardone anthony.nardone@hpa.org.uk or Dr Peter White peter.white@hpa.org.uk.

After 01 April anthony.nardone@phe.gov.uk and peter.white@phe.gov.uk

More information in:
http://www.jobs.nhs.uk/cgi-bin/vacdetails.cgi?selection=913073103