The mission of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Health Emergencies Programme is to help countries, and to coordinate international action, to prevent, prepare for, detect, rapidly respond to, and recover from outbreaks and emergencies. Within WHE, the strengthening national capacities against COVID-19 and other public health emergencies, project funded by EU and implemented by MoH with the technical collaboration of WHO Country Office Ankara, aims to further strengthen laboratory capacities for diagnosis and surveillance of emerging and re-emerging pathogens of epidemic potential, reinforcing health security in Türkiye and to strengthen laboratory systems for improved preparedness and response to public health threats in the earthquake affected areas.
Duties:
Within the framework of the Strengthening national capacities against COVID-19 project and in alignment with the EU contribution agreement, the incumbent will provide technical expertise and operational support to the Ministry of Health and partners in timely responses to outbreaks/epidemics and health emergencies through managing the laboratory related activities in compliance with the WHO recommended standards.
Specific tasks will include:
Act as international technical expert for laboratory in the WHO country office Türkiye and within the Incident management system for the earthquake response.
Lead technical and operational support to enhance genomic surveillance capacity in Türkiye and expand capacity of public health laboratories in the earthquake affected region to conduct genomic surveillance for a range of priority pathogens.
Coordinate and provide expert technical guidance on development and implementation of the National genomic surveillance strategy and costed action plans.
Design and deliver capacity building workshops and training initiatives to strengthen the capacity of public health and laboratory staff on next generation sequencing (NGS), bioinformatics and molecular epidemiology and enhance the use of genomic data for public health action.
Provide strategic and operational support to strengthen the laboratory system in the earthquake affected provinces to detect public health threats, including vector borne diseases, via workshops, on-site training, and mentoring and supervisions field visits.
Enhance the institutional and policy capacity of laboratory and surveillance system by leading the development of strategies, guidelines, standard operating procedures and other national/sub-national guidance documents.
Coordinate and oversee execution of large-scale procurements of laboratory equipment and supplies for public health laboratories in the earthquake affected area.
Promote collaboration and partnerships on public health diagnostics and genomic surveillance across institutions in Türkiye and internationally.
Strengthen coordination and linkage between surveillance and laboratory systems through data sharing field missions, workshops, trainings and overall system design and strengthening.
Facilitate generation of lessons learned and sharing of experience on laboratory response to earthquakes and natural disasters through development of publications and hosting national/international conferences and workshops.
Technically guide and coordinate technical staff, short-term experts and consultants to ensure high quality implementation of project activities.
Maintain regular contacts with the relevant Technical Unit(s) at the WHO Regional for Europe to ensure that the project implementation is consistent with Regional and Global strategies.
Support Project Coordinator to ensure that the project implementation is consistent with administrative and financial organizational rules, regulations, and reporting requirements.
Assist with the development of workplans and activity budgets, and support monitoring, evaluation and reporting of project implementation.
Perform any other related incident-specific duties, as required by the functional supervisor.
Required Qualifications: Education
Essential:
dvanced University degree (Master's level or above) in life science, biomedical science, medical microbiology from an accredited/ recognized institute.
Experience: Essential:
At least seven years of national and international experience in infectious diseases laboratory science with special focus on high threat pathogens including at least three years' experience in genomic surveillance. Expert knowledge in application of molecular techniques for genomic surveillance. Ability to work with national and international staff in the laboratory setting. Proven track record of successfully contributing as a laboratory science specialist at the international level. Experience in planning and implementing laboratory trainings. Experience in strengthening laboratory quality management systems.
Skills:
Expert knowledge in Microbiology or Biomedical Sciences and/or use of molecular techniques and next generation sequencing in infectious disease diagnosis and surveillance.
Proven ability to develop innovative and appropriate solutions for the improvement of laboratory systems.
Sound knowledge in biosafety standards, methodology and techniques in public health laboratories, in particular molecular biology and genomic surveillance for infectious diseases.
Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work under pressure.
Proven ability to communicate effectively with tact, discretion and the ability to promote consensus.
Excellent writing skills in English and proven analytical skills and ability to synthesize findings from diverse materials and sources.
