Using ‘big data’ to create a UK learning health system for asthma

Applications are invited for a 3-year PhD studentship within the Usher Institute of Population Health Sciences and Informatics (www.ed.ac.uk/usher) at The University of Edinburgh. This studentship is a Farr Institute (www.farrinstitute.org/) studentship and will benefit from the close collaboration with the Asthma UK Centre for Applied Research (www.aukcar.ac.uk). The PhD studentship will ideally begin in September/October 2017.

Asthma is now one of the commonest long-term conditions in the UK (and indeed the world) and for which there are enormous opportunities to achieve rapid improvements in health outcomes. This PhD studentship will be focused on creating a UK ‘learning health system’ for asthma. The focus will be on using ‘big data’ to better identify patients at risk of asthma exacerbations, improving preventive and acute care decisions in these patients with a view to reducing the risk of serious asthma attacks, hospitalisations and deaths.

The term ‘learning health system’ originated from the US Institute of Medicine’s expert roundtable on envisioning next generation health systems in which real-time data aggregation and analytics are used to support front-line clinicians in provisioning of evidence-based care. (See Best Care at Lower Cost: The Path to Continuously Learning Health Care in America on National Academies website)

Whilst improving asthma outcomes is an extremely important goal in its own right, this work clearly also has the potential to generate important transferable lessons for a number of other long-term conditions.

This studentship has been made possible and will benefit greatly from the strong synergies between the Farr Institute and the Asthma UK Centre for Applied Research. You will join a collaborative team of academics and PhD students distributed throughout the UK working towards the common goal of achieving a data driven step-change in asthma outcomes.

Academically strong candidates with a background in informatics, computer science, machine learning, epidemiology and statistics are particularly encouraged to apply.

The successful candidate will be based in Usher Institute of Population Health Sciences and Informatics (www.ed.ac.uk/usher) and will benefit greatly from the strong inter-disciplinary environment offered by the Farr Institute (www.farrinstitute.org), and the Asthma UK Centre for Applied Research (www.aukcar.ac.uk).

Before making your application, you are encouraged to contact the PhD supervisors for informal enquiries and to discuss your research proposal.

1st Supervisor: Prof Aziz Sheikh [Email Address Removed]

2nd Supervisor: Dr Colin Simpson [Email Address Removed]


Requirements
• Have or be predicted to obtain 2:1 or higher in a relevant undergraduate degree.
• Post-graduate degree in relevant field is desirable, or its equivalent if outside the UK.
• An interest in, and ideally experience of, healthcare research.
• A commitment to the highest standards of scholarship.
• Applicants must meet the entry requirements (including English language proficiency) for acceptance onto the University of Edinburgh Usher Institute of Population Health Sciences and Informatics PhD programme in Medical Informatics. Details at: www.ed.ac.uk/studying/postgraduate/degrees/index.php?r=site/view&id=924

Following interview, the selected candidate will need to apply and be accepted for a place on the Medical Informatics PhD programme.


Application procedure
Please provide in pdf format:
• CV
• Personal statement indicating how you meet the criteria for the chosen studentship (maximum of 1 A4 side)
• Research proposal (maximum of 2 sides of A4, please include studentship project title and reference number)
• Degree certificate(s)
• Marks for your degree(s)
• 2 academic references
Email to: [Email Address Removed]


The closing date for applications: Fri 23 June 2017

The studentship will ideally begin in Autumn 2017.