Post Type: PhD Studentship (Funded) | Faculty/PSG: Medicine | Division/Prof Service: Primary Care & Population Sciences | Section: Primary Care & Population Sciences | Location: Southampton General Hospital | Post Type: Full Time | Closing Date: 16 Oct 2015 |
Lead Institute / Faculty: Faculty of Medicine
Main Supervisor: Professor George Lewith
Other members of the supervisory team: Professor Michael Moore
Duration of the award: 3 years
Project description: This PhD studentship will involve the evaluation of Andrographis paniculata as a symptomatic intervention for acute respiratory tract infections. It will involve a systematic review and mixed methods pilot feasibility study based in primary care. The post will be in primary care and largely supported by Pukka Herbs but also will involve NIHR funding. The remuneration will be a standard SPCR non-clinical studentship for a full time 3-year studentship. The tuition fees are included as are associated bench fees.
We are seeking applications from qualified herbalists and others who hold, ideally, a first class undergraduate degree in a relevant field. An MSc in an appropriate area is also desirable but not essential.
Please contact: Professor George Lewith (gl3@soton.ac.uk)
Person Specification: Qualified herbalists and others who hold, ideally, a first class undergraduate degree in a relevant field. An MSc in an appropriate area is also desirable but not essential.
The successful candidate is likely to have the following qualifications:
A 1stor 2:1 degree in a relevant discipline and/or second degree with a related Masters
Funding information: Provide a link to either the funding criteria or terms and conditions.
Administrative contact and how to apply:
Please complete the University's online application form, which you can find at
https://studentrecords.soton.ac.uk/BNNRPROD/bzsksrch.P_Login?pos=4359&majr=4359&term=201516
You should enter Professor George Lewith as your proposed supervisor. To support your application provide an academic CV (including contact details of two referees), official academic transcripts and a personal statement (outlining your suitability for the studentship, what you hope to achieve from the PhD and your research experience to date).
Informal enquiries relating to the project or candidate suitability should be directed to Professor George Lewith (gl3@soton.ac.uk).
Closing date:16th October 2015.
Interview date: Tuesday 10th November 2015 at Aldermoor Health Centre
To commence: 1st November 2015
Further details
The Southampton Primary Medical Care group is a thriving department that offers a broad spectrum of expertise in both methodologies and topic areas. We are part of the School for Primary Care Research (SPCR). We doubled in size between the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise and the 2014 Research Excellence Framework assessment, in which 87% of our research was rated as ‘internationally excellent’ or ‘world-leading’. In the Public Health, Health Services Research and Primary Care unit of assessment, we were ranked 3rd highest for the quality of our research outputs out of 32 institutions.
The group is part of the Primary Care & Population Sciences Academic Unit in the Faculty of Medicine, giving us very close links with Public Health with shared interests in kidney disease, liver disease and alcohol misuse. The following link provides more information about the department:
http://www.southampton.ac.uk/medicine/academic_units/academic_units/primary_care_population.page
We have particularly strong links with the Health Psychology group, and with highly rated groups in secondary care medicine (particularly through the Southampton NIHR Biomedical Research Centre in Nutrition, and Biomedical Research Unit in Respiratory Medicine), the Faculty of Health Sciences, Southampton Statistical Sciences Research Institute, and Computing Sciences within the University, so PhD students and post-doctoral research fellows may be co-supervised by clinical academics in primary medical care and scientists in these disciplines. They will also be supported to develop national and international links, through our extensive existing fruitful collaborations, where appropriate. We are engaged in providing evidence to inform new approaches to major challenges in primary care.
This PhD studentship will involve the evaluation of Andrographis paniculata as a symptomatic intervention for acute respiratory tract infections. It will involve a systematic review and mixed methods pilot feasibility study based in primary care. The post will be in primary care and largely supported by Pukka Herbs but also will involve NIHR funding. The remuneration will be a standard SPCR non-clinical studentship for a full time 3-year studentship. The tuition fees are included as are associated bench fees.
We are seeking applications from qualified herbalists and others who hold, ideally, a first class undergraduate degree in a relevant field. An MSc in an appropriate area is also desirable but not essential.
The departmental research themes that are relevant to this project are:
Improving the management of acute infections and reducing antibiotic prescribing, led by Professors Paul Little and Michael Moore: we are providing evidence for better antibiotic use and alternative treatments to reduce the major public health threat of antibiotic resistance and save NHS resources. Current studies include the further development and implementation trial of very successful internet based modules to change GP prescribing behaviour (the GRACE INTRO intervention), autoinflation for otitis media with effusion in school age children, qualitative work on GP views of delayed antibiotic prescribing, the ARTIC-PC multicentre HTA trial to assess antibiotics for childhood chest infections, the R-GNOSIS consortium in urinary infection (with Utrecht), and an HTA bid for a trial of antifungals in cellulitis.
Evaluating complementary therapies for common conditions, led by Professors George Lewith, Michael Moore and Paul Little: we are developing evidence for novel treatments that give patients more choice, and do not involve the risks of medication, including herbal medicines, mindfulness meditation, the Alexander Technique, and acupuncture. Current work includes trials of Pelargonium for chest infections, Uva ursi in acute UTI, and work on the placebo and non-specific therapeutic effects in consultations for pain, aiming to reduce the use of anti-inflammatories.
Prof George Lewith is our lead for postgraduate development within the group, and our liaison with the SPCR and internally with the University’s postgraduate and postdoctoral organisations. All our PhD supervisors attend the University supervisor training and the Faculty Graduate School provides generic training (in ethics, presentations, statistics, Good Clinical Practice, etc.) Many of our PhD students have completed an MSc involving research methods, and training is individualised, depending on the needs of the PhD. This often involves specific specialist courses outside the department funded by our internal reserves. The SPCR meetings provide an excellent environment for PhD fellows to learn what happens in other departments, to meet colleagues in a non-threatening academic environment, and be mentored. We have an annual Primary Care and Population Sciences conference for PhD students to receive feedback from all the senior academics. Our postgraduate students also have an annual formal assessment with an invited internal adviser from outside the supervisory team. Supervision and mentoring are judged to be excellent and students have many opportunities for presenting their research findings at conferences and for co-authorship for publications, and good support for new research ideas.
For information queries, please contact: Professor George Lewith gl3@soton.ac.uk