This PhD opportunity is being offered as part of the LSTM and Lancaster University Doctoral Training Partnership. Find out more about the studentships and how to apply.
| Abstract | Malaria kills over half a million children annually and its control and ultimately elimination must be a priority for health programmes. The scale of people at risk requires vast numbers of tests, treatment, and preventative commodities to be deployed. The scaled deployment of commodities, including those with insecticide, or single-use plastic, was established before it was possible to appreciate the potential, associated, environmental challenges that such scaled use could bring. There is a need now to quantify the contribution made from core interventions to waste management, toxin release into environments, or impact on non-target organisms across different spatiotemporal scales. One method available is the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). This is a process that can be conducted for any product where the materials and process required to produce, use and dispose of the product at the end of its useful life, are scored to estimate a greenhouse gas emissions (and other waste products) cost. Pathways to make the life cycle more ecologically efficient can be presented for adoption to reduce this score. Generation of such information on commodities that are used at vast scales could enable management programmes to make their decisions ethical, encourage strategic production, delivery, use and waste management, and potentially future-proof communities against cascading challenges. Current decisions in a health contexts often use something called Net Monetary Benefit (NMB) as a single measure of impact, combining measures on different dimensions, namely health (commonly in quality-adjusted life years (QALYs)) and financial cost. In a similar way, through this PhD, we propose to extend this idea and develop a novel metric that combines financial cost, effectiveness and environmental impact. This would allow principled, optimal decision making in this multidimensional problem space to guide policy in ethical directions. The aims of this PhD are to first generate a database on commonly deployed brands for malaria control efforts that can inform manufacturers, National Programmes and donors about environmental impacts. Such a resource may encourage manufacturers and logistical teams to address critical global challenges. The student will be embedded within the Department of Vector Biology and work closely with International institutions including those in Cameroon, Burkina Faso and the USA as part of a Unitaid funded project (CANVeCT). There will be scope to pursue a range of questions about plastic recycling, cost-effectiveness and durability of interventions, receptivity of communities to using various vector control devices and working with industry to evaluate products. While decisions on public health will be primarily made on the basis of the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of products or strategies, having a resource available to also compare options given their impacts on climate and nature may prove invaluable for the well-being of future generations and the planet. |
| Where does this project lie in the translational pathway? | T2 - Human /Clinical Research,T3 - Evidence into Practice ,T4 - Practice to Policy/Population |
| Expected Outputs | The project will produce a resource for policy, the World Health Organization, donors and programmes managing disease- and nuisance-vectors. Outcomes aim to develop a single dimension decisions metric that includes consideration of financial and environmental costs, and effectiveness of products used for public health protection. This work should have translatable outcomes, focusing on malaria control but with potential to inform decisions on multiple other diseases. Outputs will include high quality REF returnable publications and deliver on partnerships with CRID, Cameroon. |
| Training Opportunities | The student will develop the analytical, statistical and problem solving skills required to establish a career in research, industry or policy. The student will undertake specific training in performing Life Cycle Assessments of products, learn statistical analysis with an emphasis on the R programming language, and develop skills in statistical economics. There will be opportunities to teach through the AMMNet (AMMnet – A global community of malaria modelers, data analysts, and partners) developing the skills of the student to present complex research and novel thinking to mixed audiences. The student will develop literature review methods and collaborate with International researchers potentially including those based at Global Fund, the WHO, research institutions and National Programmes. This PhD will be supervised by Dr Ellie Sherrard-Smith (Ellie Sherrard-Smith Profile | Imperial College London, ICL & LSTM), Dr Jen Lord (https://www.lstmed.ac.uk/about/people/dr-jennifer-lord, LSTM) and Dr Nathan Green ( https://www.ucl.ac.uk/statistics/dr-nathan-green, University College London). Each supervisor bringing bespoke skills to the effort, representing extensive research experience in statistics, transmission modelling and ecological applications. |
| Skills Required | Good analytical skills are advantageous, collaborative energy a must, and a desire to improve our capacity to benefit public health and the global ecosystem. A degree in science or maths is preferrable as this studentship will likely be heavily quantitative. Any experience in LCA analyses is advantageous. |
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Key Publications associated with this project |
Report. From milligrams to megatons: A climate and nature assessment of ten key health products. (unitaid.org) |
| https://ecochain.com/blog/life-cycle-assessment-lca-guide/ | |
| https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jval.2021.01.013 | |
| https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jval.2021.01.013 |