In this four-year PhD candidate position, you will be focusing on outcomes for intensive care unit (ICU) patients in Europe suffering from poisoning (TOXIC-EU). The project is part of an observational, prospective, multicenter study aimed at providing an up-to-date, international (“European”) overview of the incidence and patterns of ICU patients suffering from poisoning.

Acute poisonings have a considerable impact on healthcare systems. Depending on the setting and the type of ICU, up to 14% of the ICU population consists of patients affected by acute poisoning. Notably, the in-hospital mortality of ICU poison patients is strikingly low, as is their length of stay in the ICU. 

Your key responsibilities will include reviewing the known risk factors for poor outcomes in ICU acute poisoning patients, and developing the online Castor database, which will enable thorough epidemiological analyses to determine the clinical outcome for poisoned ICU patients and identify risk factors for poor outcome. This will involve collaborating with other medical centers, collecting data on ICU patients suffering from poisoning, performing data analysis, and presenting and publishing your research data. You will also have the opportunity to take high-quality courses throughout your PhD.

Candidates should:

·       have a Msc degree in Life Sciences, such as Biomedical Sciences, Medicine, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Drug Innovation, Toxicology, or a comparable discipline,

·       be able to work, launch and embrace collaboration in a multidisciplinary setting,

·       have good organisation skills,

·       have the motivation the learn epidemiological analyses using programming language (such as R),

·       have the ability to work relatively independently,

·       have good communication and writing skills in English. 

Preferable candidates should have:

·       a background in toxicology,

·       knowledge of medical terminology,

·       experience in scientific research, as supported by internships or work experience,

·       experience in epidemiological analyses, as supported by internships of work experience. 

For this 100% post, the salary would be € 2.422,- gross per month in the first year up to € 3103,- gross per month in the fourth year according to the PhD-student salary scale. In addition, the UMCU will offer you 8% holiday pay and 8.3% end-of-year bonus. The conditions of employment comply with the Collective Labour Agreement for Medical Centres (CAO-UMC).

This will be a temporary appointment for one year at first, with the option for extension for another three years following evaluation.

Poisons Information Center (DPIC)

This position will be based at the Dutch Poisons Information Center (DPIC), headed by Prof. Dylan de Lange. The DPIC provides physicians and other health professionals with information about potential health effects and treatment options regarding acute poisonings. The DPIC can be consulted by telephone (24/7), and via the website Vergiftigingen.info. In 2018, the DPIC received nearly 50,000 information requests by telephone regarding poisonings in humans and animals. 

Although the DPIC is not a research group, research is performed in a variety of fields within clinical toxicology. 

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. Scientific research at the UMC Utrecht is rooted in the world around us. 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. We have concentrated our research efforts in six programs: Brain, Infection & Immunity, Circulatory Health, Personalized Cancer Care, RM & Stem Cells, and Child Health.