As the successful candidate for this position, you will be working on a project focusing on a new bioinformatics tool – the drug target validation database (DTAdB) – jointly developed by University College London and University Medical Center Utrecht. This database provides a genomics-based platform for drug target identification by assimilating data on genotype-disease associations (e.g. GWAS catalogue, GRASP, GWASdB and public domain summary level genetic association data), drug targets and compounds (ChEMBL, First Databank) and drug action (indications and adverse effects in humans (Cochrane database, clinicaltrials.gov and the SIDER side effect database)).

Your work will involve enhancing the capability of the DTAdB, developing code that streamlines connections between the datasets, and executing analyses using the DTAdB to answer specific drug development questions. A key task will be to implement an Mendelian Randomization pipeline with a focus on cardiovascular disease (in particular heart failure and coronary heart disease). Further possibilities include the integration of human genetics with pre-existing sources of evidence on the efficacy of drug-targets. You will have considerable academic freedom to develop your own ideas on ways of optimizing and further developing the DTAdB and other resources to aid drug development.

As the ideal candidate for this position, you hold a PhD in bioinformatics, computational biology, computer science or a related discipline. An affinity with genomics and cardiovascular disease is appreciated. Furthermore, you have strong programming skills, are comfortable manipulating large-scale data, and have some prior experience in building bioinformatics pipelines. You are experienced with UNIX, Python and bash, and knowledge of R, and Julia is advantageous. Your qualities include being motivated, communicative and resourceful, an effective independent worker, and a collaborative team member. You are willing to travel, have an appropriate publication record and are willing to apply for grant funding.

Fixed-term contract: temporary appointment for 2 years.

For this 100% post, the maximum salary will be € 4481,00. This will be a temporary appointment for 2 years with the possibility of extension.

University Medical Centre Utrecht

With over 1,100 beds and more than 11,000 employees, the University Medical Center Utrecht is one of the largest academic health care centers in the Netherlands. Our aim is to improve. Our patients’ health, but also our students and employees. Whether you are a doctor or a business economist, a researcher or a SAP-specialist: working with us means having a job that matters, access to the best facilities and the opportunity to grow as a professional and contribute towards innovative health care.

Scientific research at the UMC Utrecht is rooted in the world around us. We listen to people; the wishes and needs of patients come first. Together with our national and international partners, we invest in innovation and research in order to ensure that our care remains of the highest quality. Focus is pivotal in this, which is why we have concentrated our research in six programs:

·       Brain

·       Infection & Immunity

·       Circulatory Health

·       Personalized Cancer Care

·       RM & Stem Cells

·       Child Health

Heart&lungs division

The UMC Utrecht is a leading international academic medical center where knowledge on health, illness and care is generated, evaluated, shared and applied for the benefit of patients and society. The heart & lungs division is an integral part of the UMC Utrecht. This project is supervised by Professor F. W. Asselbergs and Dr. A. F. Schmidt, and is part of a longstanding collaboration between UMC Utrecht and UCL. As part of this position, you will be expected to spend six months abroad at UCL under the supervision of Dr. C. Finan and Professor A.D. Hingorani.