The World Health Organization (WHO) is seeking experts to serve as members of one of the Technical Advisory Group on Therapeutics Prioritization. This “Call for experts” provides information about the advisory group in question, the expert profiles being sought, the process to express interest, and the selection process. If you are interested, please write to rdblueprint@who.int by 02 April 2024
Background
The R&D Blueprint is a global strategy and preparedness plan that allows the rapid activation of R&D activities during epidemics. Its aim is to fast-track the availability of effective tests, vaccines and medicines that can be used to save lives and avert large scale crisis.
The R&D Blueprint works on a list of identified priority diseases. These diseases pose a public health risk because of their epidemic potential and for which there are no or insufficient countermeasures.
The Technical advisory group for candidate therapeutics (TAG) is an independent group of experts convened to independently and systematically provide guidance to research to select medicines and be included in clinical trials to evaluate their efficacy against diseases of epidemic and pandemic threat, for which current tools for prevention are inadequate or inexistent.
The Technical Advisory Group on Therapeutics Prioritization (TAG-TP), comprised of experts in statistics and modeling, laboratory and diagnostics, regulatory, immunology, clinical management of emergent infectious diseases, basic research, including assays and animal models, and product development, will play an important role in providing evidence-based recommendations to WHO on prioritizing candidate therapeutics for clinical trials.
Functions of the Technical Advisory Group on Therapeutics Prioritization
In its capacity as an advisory body to WHO, the RTAG shall have the following functions:
- To review the evidence of the current armamentarium of therapeutic medical countermeasures used during previous outbreaks or under development for a given disease. The review will cover treatment modalities for all stages of the disease including prophylaxis or post-exposure prophylaxis as needed, with the exception of vaccines.
- To make preliminary recommendations on whether the therapeutics should be prioritized to be included in the clinical trials.
Operations of the Technical Advisory Group on Therapeutics Prioritization
Members of the TAG shall be appointed to serve for a period of 2 years and shall be eligible for reappointment. TAG meetings may be held in person at WHO or another location, as determined by WHO, or virtually, via video or teleconference. The frequency of the meetings will be as appropriate.
TAG meetings may be held in open and/or closed sessions, as decided by the Chairperson in consultation with WHO.
Who can express interest?
The Technical Advisory Group on Therapeutic Prioritization will be multidisciplinary, with members who have a range of technical knowledge, skills, and experience relevant to statistics and modeling, laboratory and diagnostics, regulatory, immunology, clinical management of emergent infectious diseases, basic research, including assays and animal models and product development pertaining to therapeutics prioritization.
WHO welcomes expressions of interest from:
Scientists, healthcare professionals and healthcare regulators with expertise in the following areas pertaining to therapeutics:
- Statistics and modelling
- Laboratory and diagnostics
- Regulatory
- Immunology
- Clinical management of emergent infectious diseases
- Basic research including assays and animal models
- Product development.
Submitting your expression of interest
To register your interest in being considered for the Technical Advisory Group on Therapeutics Prioritization, please submit the following documents by 02 April 2024, 16.30 hrs (CEST) to rdblueprint@who.int using the subject line “Expression of interest” for the Technical Advisory Group on Therapeutics Prioritization.
- A cover letter, indicating your motivation to apply and how you satisfy the selection criteria. Please note that, if selected, membership will be in a personal capacity. Therefore, do not use the letterhead or other identification of your employer;
- Your curriculum vitae; and
- A signed and completed Declaration of Interests (DOI) form for WHO Experts, available at https://www.who.int/about/ethics/declarations-of-interest.
After submission, your expression of interest will be reviewed by WHO. Due to an expected high volume of interest, only selected individuals will be informed.
Important information about the selection processes and conditions of appointment
Members of WHO advisory groups (AGs) must be free of any real, potential or apparent conflicts of interest. To this end, applicants are required to complete the WHO Declaration of Interests for WHO Experts, and the selection as a member of a AG is, amongst other things, dependent on WHO determining that there is no conflict of interest or that any identified conflicts could be appropriately managed (in addition to WHO’s evaluation of an applicant’s experience, expertise and motivation and other criteria).
All AG members will serve in their individual expert capacity and shall not represent any governments, any commercial industries or entities, any research, academic or civil society organizations, or any other bodies, entities, institutions or organizations. They are expected to fully comply with the Code of Conduct for WHO Experts (https://www.who.int/about/ethics/declarations-of-interest). AG members will be expected to sign and return a completed confidentiality undertaking prior to the beginning of the first meeting.
At any point during the selection process, telephone interviews may be scheduled between an applicant and the WHO Secretariat to enable WHO to ask questions relating to the applicant’s experience and expertise and/or to assess whether the applicant meets the criteria for membership in the relevant AG.
The selection of members of the AGs will be made by WHO in its sole discretion, taking into account the following (non-exclusive) criteria: relevant technical expertise; communication skills; and ability to work constructively with people from different cultural backgrounds and orientations. The selection of AG members will also take account of the need for diverse perspectives from different regions, especially from low and middle-income countries, and for gender balance.
If selected by WHO, proposed members will be sent an invitation letter. Appointment as a member of an AG will be subject to the proposed member returning to WHO the countersigned copy of the document.
WHO reserves the right to accept or reject any expression of interest , to annul the open call process and reject all expressions of interest at any time without incurring any liability to the affected applicant or applicants and without any obligation to inform the affected applicant or applicants of the grounds for WHO's action. WHO may also decide, at any time, not to proceed with the establishment of the AG, disband an existing TAG or modify the work of the AG.
WHO shall not in any way be obliged to reveal, or discuss with any applicant, how an expression of interest was assessed, or to provide any other information relating to the evaluation/selection process or to state the reasons for not choosing a member.
WHO may publish the names and a short biography of the selected individuals on the WHO internet.
AG members will not be remunerated for their services in relation to the AG or otherwise. Travel and accommodation expenses of AG members to participate in AG meetings will be covered by WHO in accordance with its applicable policies, rules and procedures.
The appointment will be limited in time as indicated in the letter of appointment.
If you have any questions about this “Call for experts”, please write to rdblueprint@who.int well before the applicable deadline.