The PhD Research Assistant will support the Governance of One Health Challenges: Fostering Collaboration project, funded by New Frontiers in Research Fund (Canada).

The PhD student will contribute to the following aspects of the research project over a 2-year period (2023-2025):

1. conducting a literature review of One Health governance mechanisms and conditions under which they are applied successfully.

2. contributing an environmental scan of Canadian case study to assess how OH governance principles and mechanisms are integrated into the Canadian policy landscape

3. contributing to the comparative analysis from all case countries

The candidate would ideally pursue a PhD dissertation on a topic directly related to this research project, so that the work conducted as part of the project will contribute towards completing a PhD thesis. This position is funded through a York U research assistant position (total funding of CAD 30,000).

Researchers: Mary Wiktorowicz mwiktor@yorku.ca, Arne Ruckert aruckert@uottawa.ca, Phaedra Henley phenley@ughe.org, Richar Rodriguez Hidalgo (rrodriguez@uce.edu.ec), Ronald Labonte (rlabonte@uottawa.ca), Mayumi Wakimoto (mayumi.wakimoto@ini.fiocruz.br) 

Research Project

An essential feature in fostering an equitable, resilient, and sustainable COVID-19 recovery will be effective multisectoral collaboration, drawing on the One Health (OH) approach. Evidence concerning the features of well-integrated OH governance is currently limited, and knowledge about OH operationalization is still in its infancy, despite international support for the OH approach amongst global health practitioners and policymakers. Yet, emergent global health threats with complex causality require a multisectoral policy response for effective coordination and collaboration across sectors. Our comparative research project will assess the extent to which multi-sectoral coordination mechanisms are used in addressing crucial health challenges, such as anti-microbial resistance, and climate change, and food (in)security, in four countries: Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, and Rwanda. We will explore and assess the operation of, and draw comparative lessons about multi-sectoral governance coordination from a series of case studies.

Research Question 1: What is the existing evidence concerning the components involved in effective OH governance? We will conduct a scoping review of the OH governance literature to identify what elements are needed to build effective OH infrastructure (Year 1), including developing a typology of intersectoral coordination mechanisms and the contexts under which they are implemented successfully.

Research Question 2: What is the existing state of OH governance infrastructure in the case countries, and how are OH principles integrated into the five topical domains under study? And

Research Question 3: To what extent are health equity considerations, and particularly gender equity, integrated into OH frameworks, programs, and policies, and how could they be better integrated? We will perform a situational and institutional analysis of OH governance systems conducted by researchers in each case country (Year 1 and 2) assessing the extent to which OH principles are integrated into the governance architecture in the thematic areas of climate change; pandemic prevention, response and recovery; antimicrobial resistance; food (in)security; and habitat destruction and water degradation; as well as identifying intersectoral gender considerations, relevant to OH governance.

Research Question 4: What are the main barriers to OH implementation, and what are potential facilitators of its uptake? Method: We will conduct an Applied Political Economy Analysis (APEA) (Year 2) to identify facilitators and barriers to implementing intersectoral OH collaboration based on findings from the scan.

Research Question 5: What transferable lessons on OH governance and implementation can be learned from the experiences of our case countries that are applicable to other regions in the world? Method: We will conduct a comparative analysis (Year 2) guided by an analytical framework informed by institutional theory focused on key dimensions of the governance and implementation of national OH policy to identify promising models, practice and draw lessons for other countries and regions.  

Application Deadline

Ongoing. Deadline extended - initial application review begins on June 1, 2023.

How to Apply

Submit your application package via the form below. Please submit your application package, including cover letter, current CV, transcript, and writing sample via this form. Your CV should clearly reflect how you meet the posted qualifications. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Current graduate York student. Applicants from diverse programs of study are encouraged. The Dahdaleh Institute welcomes applications from all qualified individuals, including, but not limited to women, persons with disabilities, visible minorities (racialized), Indigenous Peoples and persons of any gender identity and sexual orientation. York University is committed to a positive, supportive, and inclusive environment.

If you have any questions, please email dighr@yorku.ca

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