Join our innovative project to explore the clinical relevance of ionized magnesium and develop predictive models to identify patients at risk of hypomagnesemia due to PPI use. Collaborate with a multidisciplinary team to enhance diagnostics and therapy for magnesium deficits.

Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are utilized by approximately 2.8 million individuals in the Netherlands, and concerns about associated complications such as osteoporosis, chronic kidney failure, and impaired mineral/vitamin absorption have risen over the past decade. To address these risks, Zorginstituut Nederland has issued warnings and guidelines to limit PPI use in the country. One significant adverse effect of prolonged PPI use is hypomagnesemia leading to symptoms like tingling, muscle cramps, cardiac effects, epileptic seizures, and severe cases of osteoporosis.

In this project, we will apply next-generation biochemical measurements. Similar to calcium, 30-40% of magnesium is bound to plasma proteins and is therefore not available to the body. Therefore, total plasma magnesium measurements do not reflect biologically active magnesium. We will apply state-of-the-art equipment to monitor the ionized (unbound) magnesium concentration. For the first time, we will examine the clinical relevance of ionized magnesium in clinical practice, by correlating the ionized and total magnesium levels to symptoms.

Building on our groups’ solid background in mineral homeostasis, transport physiology and machine learning, particularly in disease prediction, we plan to develop a predictive model tailored for identifying individuals at risk of this side effect. Subsequently, we will evaluate the clinical effectiveness of an innovative validated tool that can alert physicians that the hypomagnesemia of their patient can be caused by PPI, a so-called medication-test interaction. This tool will generate warnings to physicians, which will enable them to take prompt action by providing magnesium supplementation and either modifying or discontinuing the patient's PPI usage.

In this project, you will:

• Study the homeostatic mechanisms of mineral biology.
• Establish a predictive model, using computational science, to proactively identify factors that predispose patients for hypomagnesemia at risk.
• Work in a multidisciplinary team of scientists, clinicians and patients to improve the diagnostics and therapy of patients with magnesium deficits.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Design and perform scientific research in the areas of laboratory medicine, nephrology, and physiology.
• Generate and analyze the data in order to contribute to scientific publications and present findings at scientific meetings.
• Perform research in a stimulating environment.
• Work in an international research group with fellows from many countries.
• Complete the project with a scientific dissertation.

You are a team player with an independent and well-structured working style. You have the ambition to succeed in scientific research. You also have well-developed social skills directed towards working in a team.

Moreover, you have:

• MSc in (Medical) Biology, Biomedical Sciences, or Medicine.
• Experience and/or interest in data science/big data is a plus.

Fixed-term contract: 4 years.

At Radboud university medical center, you build on your future. We are committed to providing the best care, education, and research. And we are true to our word, because we help you develop and seize opportunities and give you the room to grow. As an employer, we believe that employees should feel vital and happy at work in all stages of life. We are also committed to creating a healthy and safe working environment. Our employment conditions contribute to that. What we offer:

• The salary depends on education. Scale 10 will be offered to MSc medical graduates; a gross monthly salary between €3.493 and € 5.504 (full-time). Those holding degrees in other disciplines will be offered scale 10A: upon commencement of employment, you will start at scale 10A, step 0 (€ 3.017 full-time). Over a maximum period of 4 years, you will progress to scale 10A, step 3 (€3.824 full-time). You will also receive an 8% holiday allowance, an 8.3% end-of-year bonus, and a 47% to 72% bonus for working unsocial hours.
• 172 vacation hours per year based on a 36-hour working week. (As of 1 January 2025, you will receive 176 vacation hours).

Radboudumc

This is collaborative project between the Radboudumc and Jeroen Bosch Hospital (JBZ). The PhD candidate will work within these two institutes depending on the steps in the PhD project. These two institutes will provide an international and stimulating working environment and are an exciting place to perform translational and clinical research and enjoy teaching. The departments encompass complementary research groups whose interests range from mineral disturbances, homeostatic systems and renal physiology. Working collaboratively within these departments, we use our expertise to investigate how patients develop hypomagnesemia and how we might modulate their physiology to ultimately improve their health.

This project is funded by the strategic alignment between the Radboudumc and the JBZ. The PhD candidate will be embedded in a leading multidisciplinary graduate school within the domain of molecular mechanisms of disease and particularly in the fields of molecular medicine, physiology and translational research.

Radboudumc
Welcome to Radboud university medical center (Radboudumc), where scientific breakthroughs are born through the curiosity and passion of our collaborating researchers in a vibrant environment. We believe trust and excitement are crucial elements to achieving our goals, and we approach our research as teams and with the utmost rigor to make a significant impact on health and healthcare. Our researchers are driven by their fascination with the biological, psychological, and sociological mechanisms underlying health and healthcare. They collaborate with partners from all over the world to improve health outcomes for all. Radboudumc unites patient care, research, education, and corporate learning, which allows us to approach our mission to shape the health and healthcare of the future in an innovative and person-centered way.

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.

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