Senior Lecturer in Health Services Research

This is an excellent opportunity for a talented and enthusiastic health services researcher to develop their career in the University of Bristol’s School of Social and Community Medicine, which is one of the UK’s leading centres for research and teaching in population health sciences. The post holder will develop their research programme in collaboration with colleagues in the School and in particular the Centre for Surgical Research, which is led by Professor Jane Blazeby. The post holder will also contribute to teaching and administration for the School’s undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. The post is available on a part-time or full-time basis to start on or soon after 1st August 2017.

The successful applicant will have a PhD in a relevant topic, a strong interest in health services research, excellent qualitative and mixed methodological skills and a track record of research published in high impact journals. Knowledge of surgical research would be an advantage. They will be able to demonstrate their enthusiasm for making a significant and effective contribution to the teaching and organisation of our undergraduate and postgraduate teaching programmes and to supervising postgraduate students. In addition they will be able to demonstrate their abilities in research administration, and in the successful supervision of junior staff.

The School of Social and Community Medicine has an outstanding track record in epidemiological and health services research, and provides a stimulating environment for academics at all stages of their careers. There is a great deal of collective experience of securing grant funding across the School, and a strong track record of promotion of non-clinical researchers to senior academic posts.
Surgery forms the backbone of treatment for many common medical conditions: approximately 10 million surgical procedures are undertaken in the UK each year. However, research undertaken in surgery to develop and evaluate new, evolving and standard surgical procedures is infrequent and often of low methodological quality. Consequently, a conventional evidence base is not available to underpin much of surgical practice. This means that decisions about when, and how to operate and decisions about care for patients undergoing invasive procedures are informed by anecdote and individual surgeon or patient preference. Surgical practice in the UK and worldwide varies widely. Over the past 15 years, work in Bristol has aimed to improve this situation. Initiatives from the Royal College of Surgeons and funding gained from the Medical Research Council have led to new methods that promote better design, conduct and reporting of surgical studies, and a changing culture in surgical research. As a result, new studies with innovative methods are developed and conducted successfully. Work led by Professor Jane Blazeby, who established Bristol’s Centre for Surgical Research, has been central to this shift in surgical research culture.

Name, tel no and email details for informal contact: Jane Blazeby, Telephone: 0117 928 7332, E-mail: j.m.blazeby@bristol.ac.uk or Jonathan Sterne, Telephone: 0117 928 7396, E-mail: jonathan.sterne@bristol.ac.uk

The University is committed to creating and sustaining a fully inclusive culture.  We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and communities.