The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued an open call for elicitors to help develop estimates of the global burden of foodborne disease by participating in a structured expert judgement study on the attribution of diseases to food and other pathways. WHO will begin selecting participants on September 15, 2023 and will continue until suitable candidates are identified. Applications can be submitted through a form on WHO’s website.

The results from the elicitation study will be included in WHO’s global burden estimates for foodborne disease, expected to be published by 2025. Selected elicitors and experts will be mentioned by name in related WHO publications.

Structured expert judgement is a systematic way of eliciting scientific judgement from a group of subject matter experts as an alternative to individual researchers’ judgement in scientific modeling, meant to be considered alongside primary research and data. Selected participants will be asked to study a background document, after which they will participate in a one-on-one, two-hour interview and fill out a separate questionnaire. Each participant is expected to carry out a minimum of five interviews between October and December 2023.

WHO is seeking elicitors who have expertise in food safety, statistics, water, environment, hygiene, and other related areas. Applicants should hold an advanced degree in food science, public health, veterinary public health, microbiology, zoonoses, epidemiology, water and sanitation, or another relevant field. Applicants should also have three years of postgraduate professional experience, a basic understanding of statistics, and oral communication skills.