PhD Studentship: Estimating prevalence of key infections amongst migrants to the UK

About us

Primary Supervisor: Dr Rebecca Baggaley

Applications are invited for 1 PhD Studentship for students with a Home Fees status, based at the Institute of Health Informatics, UCL. The studentship will commence from September 2025 onwards, under the supervision of Dr Rebecca Baggaley and Dr Johan H Thygesen (IHI, UCL), Dr Rachel Burns (Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, UCL) and Prof Manish Pareek (Department of Respiratory Sciences, University of Leicester).

UCL established the Institute of Health Informatics (IHI) in August 2014 in the Faculty of Population Health Sciences. The Faculty of Population Health Sciences has established itself as UCL’s largest research-based faculty, encompassing eight institutes. More information available at www.ucl.ac.uk/population-health-sciences/.

About the role

Project Background:

The Institute of Health Informatics is looking to recruit a full time PhD studentship to join our welcoming and vibrant Institute. The main purpose of this studentship is to explore and use available data sources to estimate prevalence of key infections (tuberculosis, HIV, hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV)) among migrants to high-income countries (primarily the UK) and informed by this, evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of approaches to test and treat this population. This position presents a unique opportunity to join a multidisciplinary research team.

To inform this project, the student will deliver some or all of the following:

• estimate prevalence and risk factors for infections (tuberculosis, HIV, hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV)) among migrants to high-income countries through systematic review and, if appropriate, meta-analysis;
• building on previous work linking administrative immigration data with electronic health records, explore health usage related to HIV, TB, HBV and HCV for migrants to the UK.
• adapt existing health economic models to estimate the cost-effectiveness of alternative infection testing strategies.

About you

The successful candidate will have:

• A Masterʼs degree and/or Bachelor’s degree in epidemiology, public health, health data science, health informatics, health economics, applied statistics, biomedical sciences, health services research, or a medical degree with relevant experience, or equivalent professional experience.
• Demonstrated proficiency in quantitative methods and experience with programming tools such as R or Python. An interest in acquiring new data science and programming skills is required.
• A keen interest in teaching and academic development.
• An excellent academic track record, with scientific curiosity and a commitment to rigorous research.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills in English.
• Experience of working in a team environment.
• Experience of working independently.

What we offer

Eligibility

The studentship will be full time for 3.5 years in duration and will cover the full tuition fees, an annual maintenance stipend (£22,780 for 2025/26, with some rise expected to be applied for 2026/27 and for each of the subsequent years during the PhD) and an allowance for research training.

Full-time students will spend 6 months of their time for teaching (spread across the 3.5 years) and devote the remainder of their time to undertaking their research.

For an informal discussion please contact Becky Baggaley: r.baggaley@ucl.ac.uk

Closing deadline for applications: 30 June 2025

Customer advert reference: B02-08940

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