Job Description
EU FP7 ICT Translational Research and Patient Safety in Europe (TRANSFoRm) Project – Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Primary Care
The HRB Centre for Primary Care Research ( http://www.hrbcentreprimarycare.ie/) is a five-year programme funded by the Health Research Board (HRB) in Ireland. The Programme consists of 3 work packages (WPs): WP1 is on management and co-ordination of care in vulnerable patient groups in the community. WP2 encompasses evidence-based diagnosis in primary care and is directed to a development of an International Register of Clinical Prediction Rules (CPRs), systematic reviews of diagnostic accuracy studies and primary research in the development, validation and impact analysis of CPRs in primary care. WP3 on information and communication technology (ICT) in primary care is designed to develop and implement clinical knowledge sources-computerised clinical decision support systems (CDSSs), decision aids for patients and electronic clinical prediction rules (eCPRs) and generate comparative clinical data for quality improvement.
As part of the above WP3, the HRB Centre at RCSI is a partner in the EU FP7 ICT TRANSFoRm Project ( www.transform-project.org) leading the project’s Work Package 4 “Decision Rules and Evidence” [TP-WP4] and participating in Work Package 2 “Patient Safety Use Case” [TP-WP2] and Work Package 9 “Dissemination and Exploitation” [TP-WP9] as well as contributing to Work Package 5 “User and Software Services” [TP-WP5] and Work Package 7 “Core Tools and Services for Interoperability” [TP-WP7]. The overall aim of TP-WP4 is to develop ICT tools in the form of agents or web-services that utilize a knowledge-based system to drive a decision support system (DSS) via dynamic user interfaces in TP-WP5 and TP-WP7. The DSS will provide patient-specific advice to be provided at the moment of consultation so that clinicians are able to access and quantify likely differential diagnoses framed in terms of diagnostic probability and alternative diagnostic possibilities. Use of these ICT tools for common clinical scenarios will be measured and judged in terms of diagnostic error – chest pain, dyspnoea and abdominal pain, all of which are common diagnostic scenarios in primary/community care settings.
We wish to appoint a Research Fellow in ICT / health informatics and programming for the TRANSFoRm Project. The following conditions apply:
Level: Postgraduate (payscale on Levels 1-2 depending on qualifications and experience)
Type: Full-time
Affiliation: HRB Centre for Primary Care Research (TRANSFoRm Project)
Duration: 5 years
Based in: Department of General Practice, PHS Division, RCSI Medical School, Dublin, Ireland.
Reporting To: Professor Tom Fahey , Head of Department and Principal Investigator of HRB Centre and TRANSFoRm Project and Dr Borislav D Dimitrov, Senior Research Fellow of HRB Centre and Co-Principal Investigator of TRANSFoRm Project
Background: The HRB Centre for Primary Care Research is a multidisciplinary collaborative Programme between the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Trinity College Dublin and Queen’s University Belfast (see at http://www.hrbcentreprimarycare.ie/ as well as the other enclosed document on the HRB Centre). This 5-year Programme aims to examine the quality of care across the primary/secondary care interface in vulnerable patient groups and to develop Information and Communication Technology (ICT) interventions to improve the care they receive. This Programme will also develop an International Register of Clinical Prediction Rules (CPRs) for use in Primary Care that will be disseminated worldwide as well as channelled through the Cochrane Primary Health Care field.
The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Division of Population Health Sciences, incorporating the Departments of General Practice, Psychology, Epidemiology and Public health, brings together a critical mass of academic and research professionals working in the area of primary care, population health, and health services research. RCSI Population Health Sciences (please click this link for info).
Population health, including primary care is one of three main research themes of Trinity College Dublin Medical School. Particular expertise has been developed in the areas of chronic disease including drug misuse involving a regional GP network and inequalities in health, and in the primary care of children through the National Longitudinal Study of Children- Growing Up in Ireland (GUI). TCD Public Health & Primary Care (please click this link for info).
The School of Pharmacy of Queen’s University Belfast is committed to high quality multidisciplinary primary care research and has been a lead partner in a recently funded initiative, the Centre for Health Improvement (CHI) which will carry out highly innovative research that will change public health and healthcare practice and policy, and will have a significant focus on chronic disease in primary care. QUB School of Pharmacy (please click this link for info).
In particular, the HRB Centre (RCSI) will lead TP-WP4 of the TRANSFoRm Project. This incorporates the development of a repository of evidence and rules in selected primary care settings as well as development and integration into an agent-based or a web service-based decision logic framework. The framework will employ the rules to help health professionals with their clinical decision making and improve patient outcome in relation to avoidance of diagnostic error, so enhancing patient safety. In addition to TP-WP4, RCSI will support the adaptive dynamic user interface being developed in TP-WP5 and TP-WP7 based on the use case requirements developed in WP2 as well as the dissemination strategy in WP9.
Objective: The objective of this 5-year post (as funded by the EU FP7 Programme through the TRANSFoRm Project) is the work on TP-WP4 and contributions to TP-WP2 and TP-WP9. While providing support to the Principal Investigator and Senior Research Fellow, helping the coordination within the TRANSFoRm Project Consortium and being the main point of reference for TP-WP4 on behalf of the HRB Centre (RCSI), the post-holder will be also flexible in working across the other two work packages and ensuring all deliverables are met on schedule.
He/she will also proactively engage with the development of requirements and specifications for, and the design and implementation of suitable software packages, modeling and programme tools (mostly web-based) as well as, semantics, interoperability criteria, databases, repositories and libraries that provide clinical decision and diagnosis support, e.g., computerized clinical decision support systems (CDSS), multi-agent distributed decision support systems (i.e., agent-based modeling), decision aids and electronic clinical prediction rules (eCPRs) among others, as part of TP-WP4 of the TRANSFoRm Project. He/she will advise and support the Principal Investigator to develop TP-WP4 and contribute to TP-WP2 and TP-WP9 through appropriate mechanisms in accordance with the TRANSFoRm Project arrangements and governance protocols.
Specifically the duties will include:
- Development of requirements specifications and design and implementation of software programs, databases, repositories, e-CDSSs, electronic CPRs, according to TP-WP4.
- Developing ICT, decision support and evidence inputs as well as web-based / abent-based decision logic for the TRANSFoRm Project as well as coordinating those in and across the other two TP-WPs (no.2 and no.9)
- Academic supervision of postgraduate students, preparing presentations and writing of peer-review publications
- Preparation of analyses and scientific reports as required
- Preparation of scientific aspects of Meetings between partners and collaborators within the TRANSFoRm Project consortium as required
- Supporting and liaison with the Senior Research Fellow to prepare the Progress and Annual Reports as well as the Final Reports to EU with exemplars of tools, databases,, repositories, decision systems and software programs that have been developed as part of the HRB Centre’s participation in the TRANSFoRm Project
- Other such duties as may be assigned from time to time
Person Specification
The successful candidate will be expected to have relevant postgraduate qualifications and expertise such as ICT, computer sciences, programming, computer languages, health informatics or health-related/medical ICT research.
In particular, candidates should possess:
- An informatics, health/medical informatics or computer sciences related Master (essential) or PhD (desirable) qualifications
- A minimum of 2 years experience in research
- Experience in the design and implementation of web-based systems and programming (essential), ideally in a healthcare setting and/or by agent-based modelling (desirable)
Other desirable attributes include:
- Previous experience in working with health care users, health professionals and patients
- Previous experience of contributing to a program of research
- Excellent interpersonal, communication and presentation skills
- An ability to win the confidence of stakeholders, researchers and research partner representatives
- An ability to foster and sustain academic relationships
- Evidence of peer review publications
- Attention to detail and thoroughness in work practices and an ability to work to deadlines
- A capacity to work collaboratively as part of a team and independently
Closing date for receipt of applications is: Friday, 26 February, 5pm.
Please forward a covering letter along with copy of your curriculum vitae quoting reference number: Ref. RES 1005
For Ref. RES1005, please contact Niall Doherty , Project Officer, Division of Population Health Sciences, RCSI, Beaux Lane House, Mercer St. Lower, Dublin 2. Tel: 00 353 1 4022473. Email: [email protected].
Informal enquiries about the posts may be made to Professor Tom Fahey, Email: [email protected]
Please note that interviews will be held in early March
