Title: Postdoctoral Researcher, Max Institute of Healthcare Management (MIHM), Indian School of Business (ISB)

Location: ISB Mohali Campus

Number of positions: 1

Duration: 11 Months

Job Summary: This is a research position in an academic setting. The successful candidate will carry out research activities within the mission and strategy of MIHM in one or more of its research themes: (i) Health System Design, (ii) Innovation and Entrepreneurship, (iii) Public Policy and Financing, (iv) Patient Centricity under close guidance and supervision of ISB faculty members.

The Postdoctoral Researcher will design, organize and conduct highly specialized and advanced research using established scientific protocols and procedures and in some cases developing new protocols; summarize findings and publish results in research journals; assume general responsibility for operations of the research project; provide supervision and guidance to junior technicians and researchers.

Responsibilities:

Post Doc’s primary areas of work will include but will not be limited to healthcare facility costing, supply chain mapping, evaluating technology-enabled innovation healthcare delivery models. Some of the tasks with these projects will include,

a)       Design and implement research protocols; design safety procedures; adopt new techniques, methods or instrumentation relative to research procedures.

b)      Collect, prepare and analyze research data; keep a detailed notebook summarizing projects and recording research data; maintain a computer database of research data; tabulate and display data for presentation and publication.

c)       Supervise other personnel in the project to coordinate research efforts for increased efficiency; participate in the training of fellow researchers as needed.

d)      Search pertinent scientific literature as needed.

Skills and Qualifications:

1.       Ph.D. in operations management, applied mathematics, operation research, industrial engineering, industrial system engineering. Three or more years of relevant experience in a research environment.

2.       They should have a proven track record of published research and should be able to provide a writing sample.

3.       Candidates with prior experience in health systems costing, healthcare supply chain, ICT and healthcare will receive strong preference.

4.       Proficiency in at least one statistical and computational packages such as R, Python, and STATA and ML and AI knowledge is essential.

5.       Familiarity with advanced research methodologies such as statistics, econometrics, simulation, optimization, survey design, and field experiments are desirable.

6.       Strong writing skills in English and ability to present concepts and data effectively.

7.       Independently carry out research activities and maintain high quality and integrity of work process and results

8.       Responsive to mentorship to produce high-quality outputs in the defined timeframe

About ISB and MIHM:

ISB is regularly ranked among the top business schools globally and has a thriving research ecosystem with about 50 tenure-track faculty members across various academic areas and 70 research associates and analysts.

MIHM’s vision is to become a thought leader in the Indian healthcare scene through cutting edge research, innovation education programs, and deep industry engagement. Major themes of MIHM’s activities include Management of Healthcare Delivery Institutions, Financing of Healthcare and Healthcare Policy, Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Patient Centricity.

ISB faculty aligned with MIHM have a wide range of research interests: impact of operational decisions on population-level health outcomes, application of behavioral economics to wellness programs; global pharmaceutical economics and innovation, leadership and change management in healthcare delivery institutions, innovation and scalability of social ventures in healthcare, use of information and communication technology to improve healthcare delivery. In the past, MIHM has collaborated with and has been funded by leading organizations such as Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, PFI, CDDEP, PATH, Clinton Health Access Initiative, USAID and Abt Associates Inc.

Research staff at ISB and MIHM attend regular workshops conducted by resident and visiting faculty focusing on specific research topics (e.g., text analytics, machine learning, impact evaluation) as well as broad research skills (e.g., analytical writing). In addition, researchers can also participate in short-term workshops/conferences relevant to their areas of interest. Research staff at ISB is a close-knit community and participates in various social and cultural activities organized on campus. Salaries are competitive and in-line with the qualification and experience of the selected candidate.

About the project:

As India surpasses many countries in the global COVID-19 case incidence, the Government has increased its testing significantly. However, there is still a mismatch between the need for testing and the current testing across multiple States in the country. To close the gap of supply and need, it is required to ramp up testing especially in areas and populations with rapid spread of infection. Certain barriers like the increased turnaround time for a confirmatory diagnosis, absence of a differentiated testing mechanism, the absence of rationalized use of existing resources, faltering test reports, limited or delayed adoption of new technologies, fear of getting tested and lack of peer learning has led to suboptimal testing rates and inequality in access

Through this project, we aim to demonstrate cost-effective, sustainable, and scalable testing solution packages. This would be done through leveraging private sector laboratories, capacity building of public sector laboratories, testing new and approved technologies, prioritizing populations on the basis of socio-economic variables, co-morbidities, and occupational vulnerability through differentiated testing strategies, improving contact tracing through strategies of repeat testing, and technical support for operationalizing new testing strategies while resuming economic activities with the aim to disrupt COVID-19 transmission through equitable, affordable, and high-quality testing services. We will support the local governments in convening the relevant stakeholders like government organizations, diagnostic laboratory chains, medical colleges, partner organizations and community-based local organizations at the state level to increase the reach and equitable distribution of the testing facilities. The project aims to deliver data-driven decision support tools, a playbook for implementation and scale-up of different operating models, costing of various testing strategies, mapping laboratories, and their capacity to conduct COVID-19 tests to district administrations.