About your role
The project consists of two work packages. Work package 1 is led by Prof. dr. Hans de Wilt (Radboud University Medical Center) and will consist of a cluster randomized trial investigating patient-led home-based follow-up compared to hospital-based follow-up? Work package 2 is led by Dr. Veerle Coupé (Amsterdam UMC) and will focus on risk-based follow-up strategies to optimize one-size-fits-all follow-up. As a PhD student, you will analyze and synthesize data from the Netherlands Cancer Registry, data from the Dutch Prospective Colorectal Cancer Cohort and data from the RCT in workpackage 1, developing survival models and building a health-economic microsimulation model. To identify optimal risk-based follow-up strategies, you will simulate multiple risk-based follow-up strategies, projecting long-term effects of follow-up on survival, cost, and cost-effectiveness.

As a PhD student your main tasks are:

• To develop and validate survival models for predicting localized and metastatic disease recurrence and survival in stage II and III colorectal cancer in relation to pathological and clinical risk factors;
• To integrate the survival models with data on quality of life and costs in a health-economic model, programmed in R statistics or C++;
• To predict the impact of different risk-based follow-up strategies in stage II and III colorectal cancer;
• To publish your research findings in biomedical, health-economic, and/or epidemiological journals;
• To write a PhD thesis for defence at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam;
• To assist in teaching activities in biostastics courses for medical students.

The project
As a PhD student in biostatistics and health-economic modelling, you will be working on the project ‘Towards patient-led follow-up after curative treatment of stage II and III colorectal cancer’ funded by ZonMw, the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (project leaders Dr. Veerle Coupé and Prof. dr. Hans de Wilt). In this ZonMw funded project, we will develop a protocol for patient-centered follow-up for curatively treated stage II/III colorectal cancer (CRC) patients, in which intensity and setting of follow-up is adapted to the need of the patient and an individual’s risk of recurrence.
After surgical treatment for stage II and III colorectal cancer, approximately 20% of patients develops a recurrent tumor or metastases. The general assumption is that early detection of a recurrence leads to increased survival, but this is not confirmed in studies comparing intensive versus less intensive follow up. However, so far, only “one-size-fits-all” follow-up schedules have been implemented, while there is a high interpersonal variability in recurrence risk. Current follow-up may therefore provide suboptimal protection for patients with increased risk profiles, inefficient allocation of resources and decreased quality of life for patients at low risk. Therefore, patient organizations and policy makers call for a more patient-centered, tailored follow-up.

About you
We are searching for a PhD student with the following expertise:

• MSc degree in mathematics, statistics, econometrics, health-economics, computational biology or related field;
• Programming skills, preferably in R or C++;
• Proven interest in the field of biomedical or public health research;
• Good communication skills and the ability to work in a multi-disciplinary team of biostatisticians, epidemiologists, mathematical modellers, surgeons and oncologists.

Fixed-term contract: 12 months that will be extended (after evaluation) for another 36 months.

Our offer
The monthly wage will increase yearly to the maximum salary in the fourth year of 3,196 € gross per month.

In addition, we offer:

• Additional benefits include an 8.3% end-of-year bonus and 8.0% holiday pay.
• The opportunity to follow further training and development.
• Pension is accrued at the ABP. VUmc contributes a large part of the premium (70%).
• In addition to excellent accessibility by public transport, we reimburse 75% of your OV travel costs (commuting costs).

We offer an initial contract for 12 months that will be extended (after evaluation) for another 36 months.
For more information about our employment conditions, please visit our website.
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Amsterdam UMC

The Academic Medical Center (AMC) and the VU University Medical Center (VUmc) today joined forces in an administrative merger. The chairmen of both Boards of Directors signed the merger into force this afternoon. The signing ceremony took place in downtown Amsterdam, in a fitting location overflowing with Dutch medical history: the 17th century Anatomy Theater in a traditional weighing house called De Waag.

Epidemiology and Data Science

The department of Epidemiology and Data Science at the Amsterdam Medical Centers supports and initiates biomedical, epidemiological and biostatistical research. The department also coordinates the epidemiology and statistics courses for bachelor and master students. One of the main research topics is epidemiological, mathematical and cost-effectiveness research of the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer.
Working at Amsterdam UMC means working in an inspiring and professional environment where developing one`s talents and academic skills are encouraged. We offer you ample opportunity for development, deepening and broadening, additional training, and a place to grow!