Aga Khan University Hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan and Nairobi, Kenya are private, not-for-profit institutions providing high quality health care. The Main Hospitals serve as the principal sites for clinical training for the University’s Medical Colleges and Schools of Nursing and Midwifery in Pakistan and East Africa. Our Vision of Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi is to be the premier, tertiary, teaching and referral health care facility in sub-Saharan Africa. ​For over fifty years, Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi (AKUH) has been taking care of families in East Africa.

Job Summary

• We are looking for a total of four students. Two will be under the “Cultural Adaptation and Validation of Cognitive Tests, Functional Assessments, and Biomarkers in People with Dementia” project, funded by Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative (DAC) through BMI.
• The other two will under the “Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) Harmonization” project, funded by University of California San Francisco through BMI.
• As part of our capacity building efforts, student fellows will receive training in all aspects of research implementation, including ethics and human subject protection, participant recruitment, neuropsychological test administration, neuroanatomy, interviewing skills, database management, and data analysis, interpretation, and results dissemination. The main contribution of the students to the project will be to collect data from participants under the direct supervision of the Project Manager and Principal Investigators (PIs). They will also be expected to become familiar with the neuropsychology literature through didactics, mentoring, and self-directed learning. Involvement in the project will support academic research and coursework, where applicable.
• This position will be on a part-time basis where the successful students will work for one day per week from October 2023 to March 2024.

Responsibilities

• Consent participants for research in line with global standards for responsible conduct of research and human subject protection guidelines;
• Administer structured interviews, neuropsychological tests, and questionnaires to research participants;
• Contribute to data management by cleaning, entering, and organizing data for statistical analyses;
• Actively participate in scientific and management committee meetings, journal clubs, and other scheduled didactics that support the GBHI Harmonization project;
• Prepare summary reports of research progress for Project Manager and PIs; and
• Complete independent research project under the mentorship of Project Manager and PIs (Optional but encouraged).

Requirements

• Master’s degree in social sciences or other relevant sciences (e.g., Biomedical Sciences, Statistics, Psychometrics, Psychology etc.) with a good academic record. Applicants who have completed their coursework towards their Master’s degree and are completing their thesis will be considered;
• Specialization in mental health and training in Biostatistics and/or Psychometrics is an asset;
• Have practical experience in conducting research activities, with peer-reviewed publications, presentations, or other records of scholarly output;
• Have demonstrable motivation for a career path in Neuropsychology and/or Neuroscience;
• Must be a critical thinker with good analytical skills, who is conscientious, team-oriented, and self-motivated; and
• Fluency in English and Kiswahili is key to this position.