WHO Liaison Fellow (Research Fellow / Research Associate) at Imperial College London

Location: St Mary’s (Paddington)

Job Summary

An exciting new opportunity has arisen for a research associate or research fellow to join the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis to act as the liaison between Centre staff and the World Health Organization (WHO).  

The Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis is an international resource and centre of excellence for research and training in the epidemiological analysis and modelling of infectious diseases. The Centre works closely with national and international agencies to support policy planning and response operations against infectious disease threats. The Centre is a WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Modelling and staff of the Centre work closely with WHO across a wide range of disease areas.

The post-holder will be responsible for maintaining a close collaborative relationship with WHO colleagues and thereby support the Centre in delivering its mission of translating cutting-edge research on infectious disease dynamics into improvements in public health decision making. The post-holder will develop and lead collaborative research projects with a focus on supporting the Centre’s research theme in preparedness and response to emerging threats. The postholder will work with academic staff and research teams across the Centre, as well as interacting closely with the Director of the MRC Centre Translational Modelling Hub and the MRC Centre leadership team to ensure that the work meets WHO’s needs. 

Duties and responsibilities

The post-holder will serve as the liaison between the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis and the WHO to undertake, develop and/or manage research projects where the MRC Centre can support WHO programmatic activities. This may include coordinating expertise and providing technical assistance, particularly in response to an outbreak or urgent event. The post-holder will also support workshops and training activities, as well as take a lead in the planning of collaborative research activities.

Essential requirements

• A PhD in infectious disease epidemiology, mathematical modelling, statistics or related subject or a similar quantitative discipline
• Experience in communicating technical scientific results in written and verbal formats to policy makers.
• Knowledge of the statistical and mathematical modelling methods used to analyse and simulate infectious disease outbreaks and to inform control policy planning.
• Experience in leading and managing complex collaborations (for Research Fellow)
• Experience with reviewing, analysing and synthesising scientific papers and reports (for Research Fellow)
• Strong programming skills, ideally with experience in R and R packages
• Experience in using Github as a collaborative coding environment
• Highly developed interpersonal skills
• Ability to research new areas of public health or epidemiology, synthesise information and summarise it formally.
• The ability to work independently, including potentially spending extended periods in WHO offices.
• Project management skills: ability to effectively coordinate teams of researchers under a matrix management approach (Research Fellow)
• Ability to interact with policy makers and other academics, especially in other disciplines.

Further Information

The post is full-time and fixed-term to 13 June 2026. Part-time/flexible working will be considered.

Candidates who will be appointed as a Research Associate within the salary range £45,593– £53,630 per annum.