PhD scholarship

University of Western Australia/Telethon Institute for Child Health Research

A PhD scholarship is available for a study into the environmental contributors to the burden of disease in Australia, with a focus on susceptible subgroups such as children, Indigenous communities, and lower socio-economic groups. The WHO estimates the environmental contribution to the global burden of disease to be around 24% and 23% for morbidity and mortality, respectively. However, there has been no national assessment of this. The importance of understanding the environmental burden of disease for child health was highlighted in a 2008 report by the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY) but this has yet to be acted on. Understanding the environmental burden of disease can be used: to guide policies and strategies both in the health sector and in the environmental sector; to monitor health risks; and to analyse the cost-effectiveness of interventions.

We are looking for a student with a background in public health, epidemiology and/or biostatistics who is interested in this area.

A 3-year scholarship at current APA rates is available, although we would still encourage applying for APA scholarships.

For more information, or to express an interest, please contact either:
Peter Franklin (peter.franklin@uwa.edu.au , (08)93884996)
or Nick de Klerk (nickdk@ichr.uwa.edu.au ).