The UMC Utrecht and the Leiden UMC (LUMC) were recently awarded a ZonMw TOP grant. For the implementation of the TOP grant project, we have a vacancy for a PhD position in Clinical Epidemiology, focusing on the use of routine care data in clinical research. In this project we will study ethics, laws, research methodology and patient-engagement as they pertain to a so-called Learning Health System, with the goal of transforming all knowledge generated in the field of Cardiology at the UMCU and LUMC into Learning Health Care practices. The Learning Health System (LHS) has been proposed as an alternative to the current health care system, in which there is a strict division between care and clinical research that is thought to hamper progress in healthcare. In an LHS, medical research is integrated into patient care, ensuring that the health care practices offered in the system are continuously studied, learned from and improved. Until now, there has been very little transformation of health care practices into LHSs. One of the problems is that there are fundamental debates and uncertainties about the appropriate research methodology for learning from routinely collected data, e.g. how to deal with poor quality data and how to calculate valid treatment effects.

The aim of the candidate’s PhD thesis will be to develop the methodology needed for an LHS. The topics covered will include how to assess the value of routinely collected health data for the prospective assessment of the effects of new interventions, how to investigate requirements for using and reusing data that is collected routinely in clinical practice, and how to develop methods for rigorously evaluating which interventions work and in whom. Using this newly developed methodology (and additional work in ethics, law, and patient-engagement), we will endeavor to transform the cardiology departments at the UMCU and LUMC into LHSs.

You have a Master’s degree in Medicine, Life Sciences, Epidemiology or a similar field. Experience in epidemiologic research (e.g. study design, statistics) would be an advantage, as well as skills and knowledge in more than one of these fields and an affinity with research ethics. You are a highly-motivated team player, but also able to work independently. You have fluent proficiency in spoken and written English and Dutch. Fluency in Dutch will be particularly important, given that both UMCU and LUMC are to be transformed into LHSs.

Fixed-term contract: temporary appointment 1-3 years.

For this 100% post, the maximum salary will be € 2.919,-. This will be a temporary appointment for one year with the possibility of a two-year extension if your performance is satisfactory.

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

http://www.werkenbijumcutrecht.nl/

Julius Center

Your appointment will be at the Julius Center at the UMC Utrecht. The Julius Center is internationally renowned for its applied clinical research and innovations in clinical research methodology. You will be supervised by Prof. Diederick Grobbee of the Circulatory Health Program at UMC Utrecht, Dr. Ewoud Schuit (Methodology) and Dr. Rieke van der Graaf (Medical Ethics). Your supervisor at the LUMC will be Prof. Martine de Vries (Medical Ethics). You will be expected to work closely with the other members of the project team, in particular with the PhD student in Ethics (based at the LUMC), who will also be appointed to work on this project. Although your appointment will be at the UMC Utrecht, you will be expected to work an average of one day per week at the LUMC.