Health New Zealand report childhood immunisation coverage quarterly and annually from data recorded in the immunisation register, by health region, deprivation, and ethnicity, coverage which is currently sub-optimal and distributed inequitably. The quarterly data are commonly interpreted incorrectly by comparing coverage rates between neighbouring quarters, despite known underlying seasonal patterns.
The aim of this project is the examine the quarterly coverage timeseries for seasonal patterns and create a model to adjust for these to enable data to be comparable between neighbouring quarters.
The project is an interdisciplinary team including infectious disease epidemiologists and statisticians.
Supervisors
Primary Supervisor: Anna Howe
Key qualifications and skills
Undergraduate degree in mathematics, statistics or closely related subject
Does the project come with funding
No - Student must be self-funded
Final date for receiving applications
Ongoing
How to apply
To apply for this position, please submit the following documents to Anna Howe at anna.howe@canterbury.ac.nz: a cover letter indicating your research interests (max. 1 page); a curriculum vitae; full academic transcripts; contact details of two referees; publications and thesis (if available).
Keywords
Epidemiology, immunisation, paediatric health, public health, social determinants of health, infectious disease, modelling, statistics
