The faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, research institute Biomedical Research Institute of Hasselt University (Belgium) is looking for a PhD student health data sciences and informatics.
Background
This interdisci plinary research project is a collaboration between the faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, Biomedical Research Institute, UHasselt and the faculty of Engineering Technology, Stadius Centre for
Dynamical Systems, Signal Processing and Data Analytics, KU Leuven. This project is part of ELIXIR (human health, ELIXIR Belgium). ELIXIR is an ESFRI Research Infrastructure and e-infrastructure project. ELIXIR includes 20 countries covering more than 180 research organisation all over Europe. The Belgian ELIXIR Node is led by VIB and its partners are the universities of Ghent, Leuven, Antwerp, Brussels, Hasselt and Liège. The infrastructure developed in this project will be one of the key services supported by the Belgian ELIXIR Node. Next to this, this project is embedded in an international project referred to as the MS Data Alliance (MSDA) project. The MSDA joins registry custodians (>20 registries, >300.000 patients), patients societies (>30 countries), MS umbrella organisations and regulatory decisionmaking.
Job content
You will get th e opportunity to help us realise our mission: striving towards a next generation of management
of chronic disease, with a specific interest in the neurodegenerative disease multiple sclerosis (MS).
You are responsible to develop and implement the “Multiple Sclerosis Data Alliance (MSDA) cohort ex plorer”.
The MSDA cohort explorer enables searching aggregated data across different MS registries and cohorts after
data is mapped to a harmonized data template. The subject and variable selection tools in the MSDA cohort
explorer allow end-users to identify MS data cohorts suitable for their (research-) questions and facilitates the
initiation of (new) collaborations with these MS cohorts. You will leverage the knowledge gained in innovative
medicine initiative projects like the European Medical Information Framework, the European Health Data and
Evidence Network, Electronical Health Records for Clinical Research and Big Data for Better Outcomes. In a
next phase, you are responsible to innovate the infrastructure and make it fit-for-purpose for privacypreserved
machine learning algorithms.
Profile
You obtained a master degree in computer science, informatics or engineering (or equivalent)
Final-year students are (likewise) encouraged to apply.
You show a significant enthusiasm for, and knowledge i n medical informatics and data infrastructures.
Mention in your motivation letter previous experience with developing and implementing IT
infrastructures, especially in the medical field.
You are stress resistant and able to persevere in a competitive environment in which you adhere to
deadlines.
You have a strong interest in working on supporting medical applications of machine learning
algorithms.
You are able to communicate adequately to different targets audiences in the interdisciplinary team
(neurologists, biomedics, patient organizations, …).
You are motivated, curious and creative.
You have excellent oral and written communication skills in English.
You are able to communicate about your work at local and international congresses and to people from
other disciplines.
To guarantee the progress of this project, you are available in the short term.
You will be working at the campus Diepenbeek (BIOMED, UHasselt), as well as at the campus Arenberg
in Leuven (STADIUS, KULeuven). You show the necessary flexibility in your working location.
Offer
You will be appointed and paid as PhD student.
We offer full-time employment for a PhD-resear cher. The appointment will be for a period of 2 years and will beextended for another 2 years after positive evaluation.
Selection procedure
You can only apply online up to and including 22 March 2019.
The selection procedure consists of a preselection based on application file and an interview.
Please attach a motivation letter to your application file.
Contact: Liesbet.peeters@uhasselt.be