Two job openings in Geneva: Establishing global governance for IACG’s recommendations

Dear All,

WHO is seeking two consultants to work for 6-12 months in Geneva. The consultants would provide strategic support and technical facilitation forestablishment of the global governance structures recommended by the UN Interagency Coordination Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (IACG, link). The work would be in close consultation with the Tripartite Organizations and other UN and international agencies.

See further details just below my signature. I have confirmed with Rosalie that (i) WHO has posted two identical roles, (ii) the term for both roles runs from early 2020 for 6 months with a possible extension to 12 months, and (iii) the deadline is 19 Dec 2019.  

Could this be you? To my eye, this looks like an excellent role if you’ve got the urge to work on antimicrobial resistance at the WHO-UN level … in this role, you’d definitely acquire insights and make connections across the entire spectrum of human and animal health.

All best wishes, –jr

John H. Rex, MD | Chief Medical Officer, F2G Ltd. | Expert-in-Residence, Wellcome Trust. Follow me on Twitter: @JohnRex_NewAbx. See past newsletters and subscribe for the future: http://amr.solutions/blog/

== Notice == 
Job openings: AMR/GCP/2020/#1 and AMR/GCP/2020/#2:
Consultancy announcement for the Department of Global Coordination and Partnership on Antimicrobial Resistance (GCP)

Contract type: Consultancy
Application Deadline:19 December 2019
Contact: Rosalie Edma
Email address:edmar@who.int
Consultancy reference: AMR/GCP/2020/#2

Purpose of consultancy: The purpose of the consultancy is to provide strategic support and technical facilitation in the establishment of the global governance structures recommended by the UN Interagency Coordination Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (IACG) in close consultation with the Tripartite Organizations and other UN and international agencies.

Background: The Department of Global Coordination and Partnership on Antimicrobial Resistance (GCP) leads and coordinates the global One Health response to antimicrobial resistance through facilitating and managing strategic and innovative partnerships and providing secretariat services to global governance mechanisms on antimicrobial resistance in collaboration with the FAO, OIE  and other UN and international agencies as well as Member States and partners including the civil society and private sector. The Department facilitates the implementation of the recommendations of the UN Interagency Coordination Group on Antimicrobial resistance, strengthen evidence-based and coordinated response against antimicrobial resistance across the One Health spectrum in humans, animals, plants, food, feed and the environment through the development and implementation of global vision, goals and targets, political advocacy and engagement, and facilitating innovative partnerships and contributes towards the achievement of the SDGs. It also promotes synergy, set priorities and advocate to unblock bottlenecks for research and development for antimicrobial resistance across the One Health spectrum.

Deliverables of the consultancy:
Task 1: Manage the coordination of the establishment of the global governance structures on antimicrobial resistance in close collaboration with the Tripartite Organizations and a wide range of stakeholders, including UN and other international organizations, member states, civil society and the private sector:

  • Deliverable 1.1: A roadmap outlining the steps of establishment of the global governance structures in close collaboration with the Tripartite organisations, member states and partners;
  • Deliverable 1.2: Conduct effective consultations to ensure transparent process in the development of the terms of reference of the governance structures through seeking efficiency and synergy;
  • Deliverable 1.3. Develop and finalise terms of refence of the structures through iterative process; 
  • Deliverable 1.4. Conduct other activities that assist the smooth establishment and running of the global governance structures.

Task 2: Promote synergy and strategic alignment of the establishment and running of the global governance structures on antimicrobial resistance with the core mandate of the Tripartite and other UN and international organizations.

  • Deliverable 2.1: Design a mechanism that facilitate the smooth establishment of the structures and monitoring of effectiveness of the processes to ensure synergy and complementarity, as well as continuous improvement;
  • Deliverable 2.2: Develop communication strategy and modus operandi for the smooth functioning of the governance structures aligned with their agreed terms of reference.

Requirements for qualifications and experiences:
Educational Qualifications:
Essential: Master’s degree in Public Health
Desirable: Degree in Medicine, Veterinary Health or Pharmacy

Experience
Essential: At least ten (10) years of public health work experience in communicable diseases.
Desirable: Experience of working in resource-constrained countries would be an asset.

Skills/Knowledge

  • Good analytical and presentation skills
  • Demonstrated capacity to write and communicate in English
  • Ability to work as part of a team, and high level of interpersonal skills
  • Good organization skills

Languages and level required
Expert ability to read, write and speak in English

Other essential requirements
Available to start the consultancy in early 2020 and no later than February 2020

Location:
The place of assignment will be WHO Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland

Remuneration: 
The remuneration will be based on a monthly fee which is in the range US$7000 – US$9980 depending on the selected consultant’s expertise and years of experience. This is in accordance with the WHO remuneration scales for international consultants. The final monthly fee will depend upon the selected consultant’s experience and expertise. Payments will be made following satisfactory completion of a set of deliverables. In line with WHO norms, payment will be made in installments on satisfactory completion of a set of deliverables.

If you are interested to apply, please send your CV and motivational letter toedmar@who.intnot later than 19 December 2019.

Upcoming meetings of interest to the AMR community:

  • 16-18 Dec 2019 (Bangkok, Thailand): 3rd International Symposium on Alternatives to Antibiotics in Animal Production. Go here for details: https://www.ars.usda.gov/alternativestoantibiotics/
  • 16 Jan 2020 (Washington, DC): Duke-Margolis meeting entitled (approximately) “improving Payment Policies for Antibiotics.” This meeting will run 10:30am – 4:30pm ET. Go here to register.
  • 20 Feb 2020 (London, UK): Westminster Health Forum conference entitled “Antimicrobial resistance – coordinating a global response and progress on the UK strategy.” Go here for details.
  • 26-27 Feb 2020 (Washington, DC): US PACCARB public meeting. Go here for details.
  • 1-6 Mar 2020 (Il Ciocco, Tuscany, Italy): Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Antibacterial Discovery and Development: “Now is the time to re-boot antibiotic R&D before it’s too little, too late.” Go here for details.
  • 12-13 Mar 2020 (Basel): BEAM-, Novo REPAIR-, CARB-X-, DZIF-, ND4BB-, ENABLE-supported (among a long list!) Conference on Novel Antimicrobials and AMR Diagnostics. Details are here, poster deadline is 12 Dec 2019.  
  • 16-17 Mar 2020 (London): BSAC Spring Conference entitled: “Bridging the gap between science, policy and effective antimicrobial use.” Go here for details. 
  • 18-21 Apr 2020 (Paris): Annual ECCMID meeting (#30)
  • 25-30 May 2020 (Rotterdam), Annual ESPID meeting (European Society for Pediatric ID, #38)
  • 27-28 Jun 2020 (Bryant University, Rhode Island): Drug Resistance Gordon Research Seminar entitled “Mechanisms and Approaches to Overcoming Drug Resistance in Cancer, Infectious Disease and Agriculture” for graduate students and postdoctoral scientists. Go here for details … this immediately precedes the GRC listed just next
  • 28 Jun-3 Jul 2020 (Bryant University, Rhode Island): Gordon Research Conference (GRC) entitled “Strategies to Disrupt Drug Resistance in Infectious Disease, Cancer and Agriculture.” Go here for details.
  • 1-4 Sep 2020 (Dublin): Annual ASM-ESCMID Conference on Antibiotic Development #5! Mark your calendar now and go here for details.
  • 9-10 Sep 2020 (Washington, DC): US PACCARB public meeting. Go here for details.
  • 22-25 Sep 2020 (Albuquerque, New Mexico): Biannual meeting of the MSGERC (Mycoses Study Group Education and Research Consortium). Save-the-date announcement is here, details to follow.
  • 17-25 Oct 2020 (Annecy, France): Interdisciplinary Course on Antibiotics and Resistance (ICARe). This is a soup-to-nuts residential course on antibiotics, antibiotic resistance, and antibiotic R&D. The course is very intense, very detailed, and gets rave reviews. The date is set for 2020 and the program will ultimately appear here. Registration is limited to 40 students and opens 15 Mar 2020.
  • 10-13 Apr 2021 (Vienna): Annual ECCMID meeting (#31)

Dear All,
 
The IDWeek 2024 program committee is again seeking programs on novel antimicrobial agents and novel diagnostics for presentation in pipeline sessions! Here’s what is sought:

  • “Industry partners are invited to submit antimicrobials that are in preclinical stages of development (Phase II and III preferred) or recently approved after January 2024.
  • “The pipeline sessions will include antibacterials, antifungals, and antivirals (excluding COVID-19 and HIV).
  • “The committee also invites companies developing novel diagnostic technologies with a minimum of some preliminary proof of concept data to submit.” 

This is a great opportunity to tell the story of your development project! The deadline to submit is Wednesday, June 26 via the application portal. Any questions should be directed to program@idsociety.org. Please share this email with anyone you think might be interested in applying!
 
In addition, I’ll also note that those with a more general story to tell should look at the BugHub Stage (and the Global BugHub stage). Both BugHub variants seek “presentations that touch on your experience of working in infectious diseases and presentations that ultimately lead to a greater understanding of our diverse field” via a TED Talk-esque speech about your work. The deadline for applications is 26 June, the same as for the pipeline sessions.

I look forward to seeing you there! All best wishes, –jr

John H. Rex, MD | Chief Medical Officer, F2G Ltd. | Operating Partner, Advent Life Sciences. Follow me on Twitter: @JohnRex_NewAbx. See past newsletters and subscribe for the future: https://amr.solutions/blog/. All opinions are my own.

John’s Top Recurring Meetings

Virtual meetings are easy to attend, but regular attendance at annual in-person events is the key to building your network and gaining deeper insight. My personal favorites for such in-person meetings are below. Of particular value for developers are the AMR Conference and the ASM-ESCMID conference. Hope to see you there!

  • 27-30 April 2024 (Barcelona, Spain): 34th ECCMID, the annual meeting of the European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. Go here for details. 
  • 17-20 Sep 2024 (Porto, Portugal): ASM/ESCMID Joint Conference on Drug Development to Meet the Challenge of Antimicrobial Resistance. Go here for the meeting’s general website. You can’t register (yet) for the 2024 event, but save the date!
  • 16-20 Oct 2024 (Los Angeles, USA): IDWeek 2024, the annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Save the date! More details to come!
  • 25-26 February 2025 (Basel, Switzerland): The 9th AMR Conference 2025. Go here to register

Upcoming meetings of interest to the AMR community:

  • [NEW]  9 Apr 2024 (virtual, 830a-10a ET): GARDP’s next REVIVE webinar entitled “Progressing a discovery project – Criteria and challenges.” Register here.
  • [NEW] 9 Apr 2024 (virtual, 10a-1130a ET): CDC webinar “Impacts of Antimicrobial Resistance on Cancer Care.” Click here for details and to register.
  • 10-11 Apr 2024 (virtual): Sepsis Alliance AMR Conference, a 2-day conference focused on “Practical technologies to manage sepsis and counteract the expanding challenge of antimicrobial resistance.” Go here for details and to register.
  • 26 Apr 2024 (Barcelona, Spain): ESCMID workshop entitled “Using Data Science and Machine Learning for Infection Science: A Hands-on Introduction.” Click here to register or here for more details. 
  • 27-30 April 2024 (Barcelona, Spain): 34th ECCMID, the annual meeting of the European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. See Recurring Meetings list, above.
  • 26-31 May 2024 (Montreal, Canada): EDAR7, the McGill AMR Centre’s 7th edition of their Environmental Dimension of Antimicrobial Resistance conference. Go here for details; final abstract deadline is 21 Dec 2023.
  • 28-29 May 2024 (in person, Uppsala, Sweden): Uppsala Antibiotic Days, a broad-ranging 2-day program hosted by the Uppsala Antibiotic Center. Go here for details and to register.
  • [NEW] 30-31 May 2024 (face-to-face in Rockville, Maryland as well as online, 8.30-5.30p ET on 30 May, 9-2.40p on 31 May): NIAID-sponsored workshop entitled “Towards realizing the promise of adjunctive immune therapy for invasive fungal infections”. The agenda covers host immunity to invasive fungal infections, immune modulators in the context of fungal infections; and strategies for testing immune modulators as adjunctive therapy. Go here for more details and to register.
  • 9-13 June 2024 (in person, Ascona, Switzerland): “New Approaches to Combat Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria, 2nd Edition” is a Sunday-Thursday residential workshop focused on the deep biology of AMR. Sponsored by NCCR AntiResist (a Swiss National Science Foundation consortium), the scientific program has the feel of a Gordon Conference. Space is limited, so you are encouraged to apply promptly — go here for details.
  • 13-17 June 2024 (Atlanta, Georgia): ASM Microbe, the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. You can’t register yet, but you can go here for general details.
  • 17-20 Sep 2024 (Porto, Portugal): ASM/ESCMID Joint Conference on Drug Development to Meet the Challenge of Antimicrobial Resistance. See Recurring Meetings list, above.
  • 16-20 Oct 2024 (Los Angeles, USA): IDWeek 2024, the annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. See Recurring Meetings list, above. 
  • 19-27 Oct 2024 (Annecy, France, residential in-person program): ICARe (Interdisciplinary Course on Antibiotics and Resistance). Now in its 8th year, Patrice Courvalin directs the program with the support of an all-star scientific committee and faculty. The resulting soup-to-nuts training covers all aspects of antimicrobials, is very intense, and routinely gets rave reviews! Seating is limited, so mark your calendars now if you are interested. Applications open in March 2024 — go here for more details.
  • 4-5 Dec 2024 (in person, Washington, DC): “Fungal Dx 2024: Fungal Diagnostics in Clinical Practice” is a 2-day in-person workshop organized by ISHAM‘s Fungal Diagnostics Working Group. The program and registration links are available at https://fungaldx.com/; the agenda is comprehensive and features an all-star global list of speakers.

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