PhD candidate | Data scientist for clinical and immunological research ‘Understanding of the pathophysiology of tuberculous meningitis’

We look for a dedicated data scientist for clinical and immunological research embedded in our international multi-disciplinary team which aims to improve understanding of the pathophysiology of tuberculous meningitis and thereby to improve its outcome. Will you join our team?

Tuberculous meningitis is the most lethal form of tuberculosis and the leading cause of meningitis in many global settings, disproportionally affecting infants and young children. Around 50% of adult patients die or remain disabled, and although children with tuberculous meningitis probably have lower mortality, they can suffer serious long term physical and neurocognitive sequelae. The development of novel therapeutic approaches is hampered by lack of knowledge concerning the biological pathways involved, and how existing (e.g. corticosteroids) and alternative adjunctive therapies (e.g. aspirin) improve clinical outcomes. We aim to increase our understanding of the pathophysiology and identify novel targets for host-directed therapies against tuberculous meningitis, funded by NIH (R01-AI145781-01).

Your job will be primarily to analyze and integrate multiple layers of data from well-phenotyped patient cohorts from Vietnam and Indonesia. You will be responsible for the processing of high-quality clinical and biological data, including metabolomics, proteomics and genomics.

Your job will include, but will not be limited to, identifying proteomic or metabolomic biomarkers that predict outcome of disease, linking these biomarkers to genetic variants. Potentially, we can perform a genome-to-genome analysis to unravel the host-pathogen interaction. The coordination and processing of new measurements will also be your responsibility.

We offer you:

• Supervision by multiple researchers, each with specific skills.
• Being part of a diverse and dedicated tuberculosis team.
• The possibility to supervise BSc and MSc students.

Relevant literature

• Cerebral tryptophan metabolism and outcome of tuberculous meningitis: an observational cohort study. Van Laarhoven et al. Lancet Infectious Diseases 2018.
• Improving host-directed therapy for tuberculous meningitis by linking clinical and multi-omics data. Van Crevel. Tuberculosis 2021.

You are a PhD candidate with a MSc degree in bioinformatics or (bio)medical science with proven affinity for data science.

Futhermore you have:

• Interest in disease mechanism and in immunology in particular.
• Good social skills. You make an effort to connect with our colleagues across cultures.
• Fluency in English communication.

You will work primarily from Radboudumc, but a temporary placement abroad at the institute of one of our partners may be possible. Working at Radboud university medical center means that you are ahead of the curve and working together on the healthcare of the future. And there is more. Our secondary terms of employment are impressive. These are fully tailored to you thanks to our Employment Conditions Selection Model. At Radboud university medical center, you will be given trust, and you will take the responsibility to handle everything together. We provide annual courses, both professional and personal.

• A gross monthly salary between € 2.631 and € 3.336 (scale 10A) based on full-time employment.
• An annual vacation allowance of 8% and an end-of-year bonus of 8.3%.
• If you work irregular hours, you will receive an allowance.
• As a full-time employee (36 hours per week), you are entitled to approximately 168 vacation hours (over 23 days) per year.
• Radboud university medical center pays 70% of the pension premium. You pay the rest of the premium with your gross salary.
• You get a discount on health insurance as well: you can take advantage of two group health insurance plans. UMC Zorgverzekering and CZ collectief.

In addition to our terms of employment, we also offer employees various other attractive facilities, such as childcare and sports facilities. Want to learn more? Take a look at the Cao UMC.

You will be part of the tuberculosis research group led by Prof. Reinout van Crevel. This group is part of the department of General Internal Medicine, and has a long-standing interest in improving understanding of tuberculosis. We collaborate closely with our partners in Bandung and Jakarta (Indonesia) and Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) and the Broad Institute (USA).

Research Institutes
At the moment there are more than 1,300 PhD candidates at our medical hospital. This number includes PhD candidates on our pay roll as well as external candidates (those employed somewhere else but researching on our premises).

• Radboud Institute for Health Sciences: ± 700
• Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences: ± 400
• Donders Center for Medical Neurosciences: ± 200

Read what it is like to do a PhD at the Radboud University Medical Center.

Radboudumc
Radboud university medical center is a university medical center for patient care, scientific research, and education in Nijmegen. Radboud university medical center strives to be at the forefront of shaping the healthcare of the future. We do this in a person-centered and innovative way, and in close collaboration with our network. We want to have a significant impact on healthcare. We want to improve with each passing day, continuously working towards better healthcare, research, and education. And gaining a better understanding of how diseases arise and how we can prevent, treat, and cure them, day in and day out. This way, every patient always receives the best healthcare, now and in the future. Because that is why we do what we do.

Read more about our strategy and what working at Radboud university medical center means. Our colleagues would be happy to tell you about it. #weareradboudumc

Any questions? Please contact dr. Arjan van Laarhoven, internist-infectious diseases specialist. Use the Apply button to submit your application.

Please make clear in your motivation letter what skills you have and which you would like to acquire.