Job Category
Other
Job Experience
Not mentioned
Job Location
Belgium
Expiration Date
27 May 2021
Job description
The Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation in healthcare (I3h) at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) is looking for an enthusiastic PhD candidate to perform research on affordable access to medicines.
You will conduct interdisciplinary research to define collaborative innovation models to stimulate innovation, and define modes to deal with Intellectual Property (IP) and mechanisms governing affordable access to healthcare innovation for all. In particular, building on the I3h international
network, you will focus on the case of COVID-19 vaccine development to foster health system transformation.
Summary: Access to health technologies for people living in the low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is problematic. An increasing number of collaborative initiatives stimulate both research and development (R&D), and access to health technologies in LMICs. This project aims to investigate how collaborative partnerships can be mobilized to ensure affordable access to innovative health technologies. The case of COVID-19 vaccine development will be reviewed to define how various partnerships can be incentivised to foster health system transformation and to address the health challenges in developing countries. In particular, this project sheds a light on the role of Intellectual Property (IP) as a mechanism to promote innovation by providing incentives to invest in (collaborative) R&D, to define pricing models to promote healthcare delivery, to provide access to innovative health technologies and, by doing so, to reduce global health disparities. The project starts from the assumption that the inclusion of access provisions for LMICs in early-phase research contracts stimulates access to health technologies for people living in LMICs.
Learning from the global HIV epidemic and the international response to it, the objective of this research project is to assess the extent of inclusion of such access provisions in early-phase research consortium contracts. The research project will provide insight into the motives of stakeholders to include such access provisions (or not), to define the nature of the access provisions and reflect upon IP-models and strategies used to guarantee access to health technologies in public-private collaborations. The project aims to provide recommendations to leverage this particular model or
strategy to a higher level and provide equitable access to medical care to the patients in LMICs.
Collaborating with, and building upon the expertise present within the Faculty of Medicine and the Solvay Business School, Economics & Management, we intend to apply for a grant from the Fonds de la Recherche Scientific (FNRS) to further build on your initial PhD work.
As a doctoral researcher, you will be responsible for the organisation, implementation, analysis and reporting of this work. Your research results will contribute to the preparation and submission of a research grant and, upon succeeding, the defence of a PhD thesis in the field of biomedical sciences
and economics.
Degree
Master of Medicine, Master in Economics and Management, Master in Biomedical Sciences, Master in Health Care Management and Policy, Master in (Intellectual Property or Health) Law, or equivalent
Profile of the candidate
- You have a keen interest in Public Health and you are motivated to obtain a PhD degree
- You have distinguished yourself as a promising researcher during your master thesis
- You have very good writing and presentation skills in English (and Dutch or French)
- You have a critical attitude, you are always looking for challenges and are eager to learn
- You have good knowledge of qualitative and quantitative research methods
Our offer
- A 1 year full time contract with a competitive salary
- A PhD scholarship of 12 months
- An individual research training trajectory (including a wide range of courses)
- A challenging and inspiring work environment
- An ambitious project with important societal consequences
- Supervision of experienced scientists
How to apply
Applications should be send to Prof. Hilde Stevens ([email protected]) by 15 July at the latest and should include
- A short motivation statement explaining your interest in this position
- A C.V. including a list of courses followed and grades obtained
- The full text of published manuscripts (including the master thesis)
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