Economic evaluation of malaria vaccination approaches in Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali (INTEGREVAC and IMVACS projects)

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a health economist from Francophone West Africa (Burkina Faso, Chad or Mali) to undertake a PhD as an international student with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the United Kingdom (www.lstmed.ac.uk). When you choose to study at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, you will learn from world-leading experts, strengthen your understanding of global health priorities and the research underpinning them, discover new areas of study and have opportunities for research overseas.

Working across two projects (INTEGREVAC and IMVACS) spanning three countries (Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali) you will work closely with a team of scientists to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of malaria vaccination strategies. The malaria vaccine is recommended to protect children in all three countries, however there are some challenges in ensuring that eligible children get all the doses needed to maximise the protection, especially with scarce resources. This study will compare two strategies for delivering malaria vaccination: i) vaccination delivered via the routine immunisation channel (EPI) alone and ii) vaccination delivered alongside a seasonal malaria chemoprevention strategy (SMC). SMC is an established programme in all countries. The health economics PhD will be embedded within a larger programme of research which will evaluate the impact on disease, vaccine coverage, and the acceptability & feasibility of these two malaria vaccination strategies.

INTEGREVAC is carried out in collaboration with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and both of the projects are being conducted in close collaboration with the Expanded Immunisation Programme (EPI) and National Malaria Control Programmes (NMCP) of the governments of Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali. Created by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in 1986, Epicentre carries out field epidemiology, training and medical research in support of MSF's humanitarian objectives. Epicentre has 3 research centres (France, Niger and Uganda) , with epidemiologists on site. Epicentre’s areas of expertise includes infectious diseases (malaria, TB, HIV, cholera, Ebola, etc.), neglected diseases (leishmaniasis, trypanosomiasis, etc.) and chronic diseases that are on the rise in African countries, such as diabetes and cancer. IMVACS is led by Centre National de Recherche Scientifique et Technologique – Institut de Recherche en Sciences de Sante (CNRFP-IRSS), Burkina Faso and Université des Sciences, des Techniques et des, Technologies de Bamako, (USTTB) Mali in close partnership with the EPI and NMCP teams in Burkina Faso and Mali.

We are looking for a PhD candidate with a good understanding of health economics gained from a relevant master’s degree and/or practical work experience. Knowledge of malaria, vaccination programmes and/or community-based delivery strategies for health interventions would also be valuable. You must be fluent in French and should have a strong grasp of English to enable you to produce research output of a doctoral standard and participate in academic life at LSTM. You will be required to meet LSTM’s English Language Entry Requirements prior to registration to the PhD programme. For successful candidates that are unable to provide evidence that they meet requirements at application, the INTEGREVAC/IMVACS programme will provide funds to support these candidates to reach the required English Language threshold, via a Secure English Language Test (such as IELTS, TOEFL iBT) or other appropriate route.

You will be responsible for collecting and analysing health economic data from all three of the study countries, in partnership with research institutions in Burkina Faso (CNRFP-IRSS), Chad (CRASH AND CREPOSA) and Mali (UTTB). Your training will equip you with skills in formal cost analysis, analysis of survey data, economic evaluation methods (cost-effectiveness analysis) as well as skills in literature review, and an understanding of collaborative research processes. You will be supervised and supported in your efforts by Professor Eve Worrall, Health Economist, Department of Clinical Sciences, LSTM, and an African co-supervisor from the project who will be based in the same country as you. You will also benefit from working closely with a health economist (employed to work on the research projects and who will be based at LSTM in Liverpool), and with a team of scientists from across our research consortia. You will be based in either Chad, Burkina Faso or Mali for the duration of the PhD and registered as an “off-site” PhD student at LSTM. You must be willing to travel to all three of the study countries to undertake this PhD.

This fellowship is open to nationals from: Burkina Faso, Chad, and Mali.

The expected timeframe for the PhD position is: Commencing in September 2025 for three years. Any required English training would take place prior to PhD registration with costs covered by the project.

The fellowship is made possible due to funding support from Expertise France and The European and Developing Countries Trials Partnership.