Deadline: 11 November 2024
The World Health Organization (WHO) is seeking experts to serve as Members of the WHO Technical Advisory Group for the preparedness, prevention, surveillance, and response related to respiratory viruses (TAG-RV). 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.
Background
The health, economic, and social burden associated with the circulation of influenza, SARS-CoV-2, RSV, MERS-CoV and other known respiratory viruses of epidemic and pandemic potential requires countries to sustain and strengthen efficient and appropriate approaches to the implementation of respiratory virus surveillance, preparedness, prevention, and response activities in the context of other infectious threats. The COVID-19 pandemic, the influenza pandemics of 2009, 1968, 1957, and 1918, and the continuous threat presented by MERS-CoV, animal influenza viruses, and the emergence of novel pathogens require a comprehensive approach to continue to strengthen systems for respiratory virus pandemic preparedness, readiness, response, and control. As such, WHO is establishing the TAG-RV, a group to place a concerted focus on comprehensive and sustained prevention, preparedness, readiness, and response for respiratory viruses — more broadly covering these combined threats — of epidemic and pandemic potential.
Functions of the TAG-RV
In its capacity as an advisory body to WHO, the TAG-RV has the following functions:
- Make recommendations to WHO in the context of comprehensive and coordinated global respiratory virus prevention, preparedness, readiness, response and control;
- Advise WHO on global partnerships that support the advancement and implementation of WHO global initiatives related to respiratory viruses of epidemic and pandemic potential; and
- Upon request by WHO, review information about new, emerging, and ongoing respiratory virus topics, and provide specific advice on respiratory virus investigation, prevention, and control, in support of, and coordination with, broader WHO advisory groups.
The Terms of Reference for the TAG-RV are available here: https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/tors-for-tag-rv
Operations of the TAG-RV
The TAG-RV is convened in person at least once a year. At each meeting, Members will be asked to comment and advise on WHO policies, plans, and initiatives that are ongoing or in development according to a meeting agenda developed by the WHO secretariat. Members may also be asked to review available evidence, information, and topics related to respiratory virus detection, monitoring, prevention and control in order to provide independent advice and recommendations to the WHO secretariat.
Members of the TAG-RV are expected to attend one in-person meeting per year (at WHO Headquarters in Geneva, or in another location, as determined by WHO). In addition, Members are expected to attend additional online meetings, convened for two hours approximately every two months. The working language of the group is English.
TAG-RV meetings may be held in open and/or closed sessions, as decided by the Chairperson in consultation with WHO. Open sessions shall be convened for the sole purpose of exchanging non-confidential information and views and may be attended by Observers, who are external participants invited at the discretion of WHO. Closed sessions dealing with the formulation of recommendations and/or advice to WHO shall be restricted to the Members of the TAG-RV and essential WHO Secretariat staff. The quorum for TAG-RV meetings shall be two-thirds of the Members.
The TAG-RV may decide to establish smaller working groups to work on specific issues. Their deliberations shall take place via teleconference or videoconference. For these sub-groups, no quorum requirement will apply; the outcome of their deliberations will be submitted to the TAG-RV for review at one of its meetings.
Reports of each meeting shall be submitted by the TAG-RV to WHO (Director, Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention). All recommendations from the TAG-RV are advisory to WHO, which retains full control over any subsequent decisions or actions regarding any proposals, policy issues or other matters considered by the TAG-RV.
Active participation is expected from all TAG-RV Members, including in working groups, teleconferences, and interaction over email. TAG-RV Members are expected to attend meetings. If a Member misses two consecutive meetings, WHO may end his/her appointment as a Member of the TAG-RV. TAG-RV Members may, in advance of TAG-RV meetings, be requested to review meeting documentation and to provide their views for consideration by the TAG-RV. TAG-RV Members shall not speak on behalf of, or represent, the TAG-RV or WHO to any third party.
WHO shall provide the secretariat for the TAG-RV, including necessary scientific, technical, administrative and other support. In this regard, the WHO Secretariat shall provide the Members in advance of each meeting with the agenda, working documents and discussion papers. Distribution of the aforesaid documents to Observers will be determined by the WHO Secretariat.
Who can express interest?
The TAG-RV is multidisciplinary, with members who have a range of technical knowledge, skills and experience relevant to surveillance, preparedness, prevention, and response to respiratory viruses with epidemic and pandemic potential such as influenza, SARS-CoV-2, RSV and MERS-CoV. Up to 20 Members may be selected.
WHO welcomes expressions of interest from scientists, healthcare professionals, or others with expertise in one or more of the following technical disciplines in order to ensure a One Health approach:
- Epidemiology, including epidemiological studies, field research, molecular epidemiology, and sero-epidemiology
- Virology and laboratory methods
- Ecology
- Microbiology
- Genetics
- Medicine and veterinary medicine
- Disease outbreak analytics
- Bioinformatics and health statistics
- Biosafety and biosecurity,
- Occupational health and safety
- Ethics and social sciences
Other activities related to the emergence or re-emergence of respiratory viruses of epidemic and pandemic potential
Submitting your expression of interest
To register your interest in being considered for the TAG-RV, please submit the following documents by 11 November 2024, 24:00h (midnight) Geneva time to tagrv@who.int using the subject line “Expression of interest for the Technical Advisory Group on Respiratory Viruses".
- 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 an 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; experience in international and country policy work; 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 and a Memorandum of Agreement. Appointment as a Member of an AG will be subject to the proposed Member returning to WHO the countersigned copy of these two documents.
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 website.
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 tagrv@who.int well before the applicable deadline.