Are you the talented PhD student to join our multidisciplinary research group on creating AI solutions for people with Parkinson’s disease? You will be part of the AI for Parkinson lab, where you will collaborate with 5 fellow PhD students. Our joint aim is to derive novel digital biomarkers from video and wearable sensor data, with the mission to transform clinical trials and care for people living with Parkinson’s.

During your PhD project, you will analyze data from multiple unique cohort studies conducted at the Radboudumc, including the Personalized Parkinson Project, in which a large group of people with Parkinson’s disease was monitored for multiple years using a multi-sensor smartwatch and repeated video assessments. You will work closely together with AI specialists to develop various deep learning and statistical machine learning models to capture important Parkinson symptoms, and to perform fusion of video-, audio- and wearable sensor data. By collaborating with clinical experts, you will incorporate domain knowledge into the models and obtain insights into the progression of Parkinson’s disease using the developed tools. Making your results available to the community will benefit future studies, for example by providing more sensitive outcomes for clinical trials aiming to halt the underlying neurodegeneration.

Your everyday interactions will be with AI and clinical researchers from the AI for Parkinson Lab at the Radboudumc Center of Expertise for Parkinson & Movement Disorders, and the AI Department of the Radboud University. In addition, you will have the opportunity to interact with specialists from Verily, the lab’s industry partner. The AI for Parkinson’s Lab is part of the Innovation Center for Artificial Intelligence (ICAI) network, a Dutch network of ICAI labs focussing on diverse AI applications, which offers various opportunities for networking, career development, and training.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Design and conduct scientific research in a stimulating, interdisciplinary environment
• Develop various deep learning and statistical machine learning models to analyze video-, audio- and wearable sensor data, collected in large cohort studies.
• Interpret findings in close collaboration with clinical and machine learning experts.
• Present results at scientific conferences and in peer-reviewed publications.
• Make the developed AI tools available for the community.
• Contribute to knowledge transfer by teaching activities.
• Follow relevant courses at the Radboudumc, Radboud University and Donders Graduate School.
• Finalize the project with a PhD thesis.

Our ideal PhD candidate has excellent programming skills in Python and experience with deep learning frameworks, demonstrated by multiple projects, ideally involving video and other time-series data.

Furthermore, you recognize yourself in the profile below:

• Master's degree in computer science, artificial intelligence, mathematics, or a related field of study with a focus on machine learning / artificial intelligence.
• Solid foundation in mathematics.
• You are enthusiastic to collaborate with researchers from different disciplines, and to expand your knowledge about the medical context.
• High proficiency in spoken and written English.
• Strong team working skills.
• Curious and proactive attitude.

Fixed-term contract: 4 years.

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 € 2.901 and € 3.677 (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.
• Discount on your supplementary health insurance. You can make use of two collective health insurance policies: UMC Health Insurance and CZ Collective. They offer many extras to stay vital and healthy, such as a prevention budget, workshops, and apps.

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.

Radboudumc

You will work closely together with fellow PhD students at the AI for Parkinson lab at the Radboudumc Center of Expertise for Parkinson & Movement Disorders, and with AI researchers at the Data-driven Neurotechnology and Neural Engineering labs, which are both part of the AI Department of the Radboud University and the Donders Institute.

Daily supervision for AI-related aspects will be provided by Yagmur Güçlütürk, head of the Neural Engineering lab, supported by Michael Tangermann, head of the Data-driven Neurotechnology lab. For all clinical and applied AI aspects, the PhD student receives daily supervision from Luc Evers, Lab Manager of the AI for Parkinson Lab, supported by Prof. Bas Bloem, head of the Center of Expertise for Parkinson & Movement Disorders.

Radboudumc Center of Expertise for Parkinson & Movement Disorders
The Center of Expertise for Parkinson & Movement Disorders houses all Parkinson activities from the Departments of Neurology and Rehabilitation. These include an extensive portfolio of research & innovation projects, all outpatient care activities, and the activities of ParkinsonNet Netherlands and ParkinsonNet International. There is much recognition for what we do in the field of Parkinson.

AI for Parkinson lab
The AI for Parkinson Lab is an innovative, multidisciplinary research group focused on the development of AI-based remote monitoring tools for people with Parkinson’s disease. The AI for Parkinson Lab is embedded in the Center of Expertise for Parkinson & Movement Disorders, and a collaborative effort of Radboudumc, Radboud University, and Verily, an Alphabet company focused on precision health.

Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour
The Donders Institute is a world-class interfaculty research centre, devoted to understand the mechanistic underpinnings of the human mind. Excellent, state-of-the-art research facilities are available for a broad range of neuroscience research. The Donders Institute fosters a collaborative, multi-disciplinary, supportive research environment with a diverse international staff.

Neural Engineering Lab
The Neural Engineering Lab is embedded in the Donders Institute and in the Department of Artificial Intelligence of the Radboud University. Our work within the AI for Neurotech ICAI Lab focuses on developing machine learning methods for brain reading and brain writing technologies.

Data-driven Neurotechnology Lab
The Data-driven Neurotechnology Lab is part of the Donders Institute and the Department of Artificial Intelligence of the Radboud University. Our research focuses on data-driven neurotechnology, i.e., domain-specific machine learning methods that allow decoding brain states in single trial, and methods that permit modulating the ongoing brain state in a closed-loop fashion.

Radboudumc
Our ambition is to lead the way in the pursuit of prevention, sustainability, meaningful care. We believe that through our research, we can significantly improve the health and well-being of society. Join us on our mission to make a difference in healthcare. Become a part of our community of gifted researchers, professionals or patient partners who are dedicated to making a real impact on population health and healthcare.

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