Introduction

The Department of Respiratory Medicine of Maastricht University (Faculty of Health Medicine and Life Sciences / NUTRIM -  School of Nutrition and Translation Research in Metabolism) collaborates closely with CIRO in Horn, Limburg. CIRO specializes in diagnosing and treating patients with chronic lung diseases such as COPD and asthma, heart failure or sleep-related respiratory disorders.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the most common lung diseases and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. In addition to their daily lung complaints, patients regularly suffer from exacerbations, also called lung attacks. These episodes are characterized by a sudden worsening of symptoms and play a crucial role in the burden and progression of disease. However, the occurrence of these lung attacks cannot be predicted and there are no good biomarkers for their diagnosis. Moreover, there are different types of lung attacks, making these events heterogeneous and complex.

The study

The aim of the ‘Early diagnostic BioMARKers in Exacerbations of COPD’ (MARKED) study is to investigate diagnostic biomarkers for (different types of) lung attacks in patients with severe COPD. This is a prospective and observational study in which patients will be closely monitored and analyzed during their admission to CIRO. This means that this research will be performed at CIRO in Horn.

Role of the Junior Research Associate?

• You will get started within an enthusiastic, young, international and ambitious group of senior and junior researchers in the field of COPD;
• You arrange the logistics of this research within the organization;
• You monitor the progress of the study;
• You collect and process your scientific data in accordance with applicable laws and regulations;
• You analyze the clinical, biochemical and microbiological data to develop predictive models for (different types of) lung attacks and you contribute to increasing insight into the origin and diagnosis / treatment of these events;
• You publish the results of the study together with the research team at CIRO in international scientific journals;
• You read, rate and discuss scientific papers in this area of attention;
• You report the results of the study at professional conferences, for example in the form of a poster, an oral presentation or lecture;

• You have a completed University (Master) degree in Doctor-Clinical Researcher, Medicine, Biomedical Sciences or Health Sciences
• You have a great organizational capacity, you are accurate, easy to handle, independent, communicative, flexible and you function well in a team;
• You have a strong research ambition
• You have an affinity with chronic lung diseases;
• You have perseverance, are representative and act with integrity;
• You are able to function correctly independently under time pressure;
• You have excellent oral and written expression skills in both Dutch and English.

Fixed-term contract: 18 months.

We offer a challenging and responsible position in a pleasant working environment that is constantly evolving. It concerns a temporary employment contract. Extension of employment contract to arrive at a full PhD research project (total of 4 years) will be considered after this period.

The terms of employment of Maastricht University are set out in the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities (CAO). Furthermore, local UM provisions also apply. For more information look at the website http://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl > Support > UM employees.

Maastricht University

Maastricht University is renowned for its unique, innovative, problem-based learning system, which is characterized by a small-scale and student-oriented approach. Research at UM is characterized by a multidisciplinary and thematic approach, and is concentrated in research institutes and schools. Maastricht University has around 18,000 students and 4,300 employees. Reflecting the university's strong international profile, a fair amount of both students and staff are from abroad. The university hosts 6 faculties: Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Faculty of Law, School of Business and Economics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience.

School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism

NUTRIM aims to contribute to health maintenance and personalised medicine by unraveling lifestyle and disease-induced derangements in metabolism and by developing targeted nutritional, exercise and drug interventions.

This is facilitated by a state of the art research infrastructure and close interaction between scientists, clinicians, master and PhD students (in 2019: 395 researchers, including 245 PhD students, and 70 support staff) with a total annual budget of €18M and more than 500 publications in Science Citation indexed journals.

https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/research/school-nutrition-and-translational-research-metabolism