We are looking for an enthusiastic PhD candidate for a project on vitamin D in relation to bladder cancer recurrence and quality of life, financed by the Wereld Kanker Onderzoek Fonds (WKOF), as part of the World Cancer Research Fund International grant programme. Will you join our team?

Patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer have a relatively good survival but are at high risk of tumour recurrence. After diagnosis, they are subjected to a burdensome treatment and follow-up program. This may have a great impact on their quality of life. Whether lifestyle-related factors can reduce the risk of recurrence and improve quality of life in this patient group is largely unknown. Higher vitamin D concentrations have been associated with lower risk of recurrence and mortality and better quality of life in patients with several cancer types, but studies in patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer are scarce.

In this project, you will investigate how plasma vitamin D concentrations at 3 and 15 months after diagnosis are related to risk of recurrence and quality of life in patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. You will also examine associations of genetic variants in vitamin D-related genes with recurrence risk. In addition, you will explore whether associations of vitamin D concentrations with risk of recurrence and quality of life differ for patients with different clinical characteristics, lifestyle factors or genetic variants of vitamin D-related genes.

This project will be conducted within the framework of our multicenter cohort study UroLife, currently including about 1500 patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). This project will be conducted in collaboration with the Division of Human Nutrition and Health, Wageningen University & Research and the Department of Urology, Radboudumc.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Data cleaning and management of questionnaire, biomarker and clinical data.
• Performing statistical analyses to answer the research questions.
• Writing scientific publications, resulting in a PhD thesis.
• Presenting results at (inter)national conferences.

We are looking for an ambitious and enthusiastic PhD candidate with a strong interest in research on lifestyle in cancer survivorship who further fulfils the following criteria:

• MSc degree in Nutrition and Health, Biomedical Sciences, Epidemiology, or comparable education.
• Experience with various statistical techniques, including survival analyses.
• Experience with statistical analysis software, preferably R.
• Experience with genetic analyses is an advantage.
• Independent, pro-active, motivated, accurate, and well-structured.
• Good verbal and written communication skills in English.

Fixed-term contract: 4 years.

Working at Radboud university medical center means that you are ahead of the curve and working together on the healthcare of the future. And there is more. Our secondary terms of employment are impressive. These are fully tailored to you thanks to our Employment Conditions Selection Model. At Radboud university medical center, you will be given trust, and you will take the responsibility to handle everything together. We provide annual courses, both professional and personal.

• A gross monthly salary between € 2.631 and € 3.336 (scale 10A) based on full-time employment.
• An annual vacation allowance of 8% and an end-of-year bonus of 8.3%.
• If you work irregular hours, you will receive an allowance.
• As a full-time employee (36 hours per week), you are entitled to approximately 168 vacation hours (over 23 days) per year.
• Radboud university medical center pays 70% of the pension premium. You pay the rest of the premium with your gross salary.
• You get a discount on health insurance as well: you can take advantage of two group health insurance plans. UMC Zorgverzekering and CZ collectief.

In addition to our terms of employment, we also offer employees various other attractive facilities, such as childcare and sports facilities. Want to learn more? Take a look at the Cao UMC.

Radboudumc

The Department for Health Evidence consists of 90 employees with expertise in biostatistics, health technology assessment, cancer epidemiology, and reproductive epidemiology, offering a multidisciplinary environment for methodological research in medicine. All specializations work in close collaboration with many clinical departments in the Radboudumc. At the department for Health Evidence we aim to improve healthcare and public health by developing, applying and teaching methods for prediction and evaluation research. The Department has three main tasks: research, education, and consultation. The focus of all three is on research methodology and data analysis, in the context of Radboudumc's research themes.

Research Institutes
At the moment there are more than 1,300 PhD candidates at our medical hospital. This number includes PhD candidates on our pay roll as well as external candidates (those employed somewhere else but researching on our premises).

• Radboud Institute for Health Sciences: ± 700
• Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences: ± 400
• Donders Center for Medical Neurosciences: ± 200

Read what it is like to do a PhD at the Radboud University Medical Center.

Radboudumc
Radboud university medical center is a university medical center for patient care, scientific research, and education in Nijmegen. Radboud university medical center strives to be at the forefront of shaping the healthcare of the future. We do this in a person-centered and innovative way, and in close collaboration with our network. We want to have a significant impact on healthcare. We want to improve with each passing day, continuously working towards better healthcare, research, and education. And gaining a better understanding of how diseases arise and how we can prevent, treat, and cure them, day in and day out. This way, every patient always receives the best healthcare, now and in the future. Because that is why we do what we do.

Read more about our strategy and what working at Radboud university medical center means. Our colleagues would be happy to tell you about it. #weareradboudumc