Hyperthermia is the application of elevated temperatures (41-45°C) to tumour tissue to sensitize chemotherapy and radiotherapy and is applied in combination with chemotherapy or radiotherapy to improve tumour control. During Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy (HIPEC) a chemotherapy solution heated to ~43°C is circulated through the peritoneum for 30 minutes up to one or more hours. Surgery followed by HIPEC is used to suppress macroscopic as well as microscopic peritoneal metastases of cancers of different origins.

The research project “Development of patient specific treatment planning to enhance and optimize clinical effectiveness of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy in colorectal cancer patients” is supported by a grant of the Dutch Cancer Society KWF and aims to optimize the clinical effectiveness of the HIPEC procedure by developing patient specific HIPEC planning software to predict, control and optimize the flow, temperature and chemo distribution in the peritoneum during a HIPEC procedure. This planning software will be developed specifically for patients treated with oxaliplatin HIPEC for peritoneal metastases of colorectal cancer origin and will be validated by simulations and in an animal model. A PhD student with a background in physics is requested. This student will work at the department of Radiation Oncology of the Academic Medical Center of the University of Amsterdam and will develop sophisticated mathematical models integrating data on flow, temperature, chemotherapy concentration, temperature dependence of the effect of chemotherapy, temperature dependence of the penetration of chemotherapy into tissue using the data provided by another PhD student with a background in biology already working on the project. This software will first be evaluated in an animal model and then used to optimize the HIPEC procedure in patients to achieve an optimal temperature and chemotherapy distribution, resulting in better clinical outcome.

We are looking for a highly motivated candidate with a MSc degree in physics or a related background. The candidate preferably has practical experience with mathematical and numerical models in computer simulations and advanced programming in C/C++. The candidate should have good command of English. Excellent analytical and communicative skills and the ability to work within a multidisciplinary research group are essential. The research project should result in a PhD thesis.

The PhD candidate will be appointed in a full-time position (36 hours/week) for a period of four years and at the end each PhD candidate should have completed his/her PhD thesis. Gross monthly salary for PhD candidates range from € 2.266,- gross per month in the first year up to € 2.903,- gross per month in the fourth year, in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch University Medical Centres. In addition to this, we offer a holiday allowance of 8% of the gross yearly salary and an end-of-year bonus of 8.3%.