Are you fascinated by human metabolism? Are you interested in performing dietary intervention trials to investigate why persons respond differently to nutrition? Do you want to work in an ambitious, multidisciplinary team? Then join our group, the Nutrition, Metabolism, and Genomics group at the Division of Human Nutrition and Health!Please note:Only applicants with proven proficiency in Dutch (native level or at least B2) will be considered for this position, due to the nature of the work involving direct interaction with study participants.
What are you going to do?We are looking for a highly motivated and enthusiastic PhD candidate to work with us on precision nutrition and human metabolism research.
Increasing evidence shows that individuals respond very differently to foods, meals, and diets, but the biological mechanisms driving this variation remain largely unknown. Post-meal glucose and lipid responses are short-term markers of how individuals respond to nutrition.
In this project, we will conduct human dietary intervention trials to study these post-meal responses to complex meals under controlled conditions. We aim to gain novel insights into both intra- and inter-individual differences in these metabolic responses. In addition, we will study how the timing of meals affects these acute responses, including the variability between and within individuals.
The data collected in these trials will feed into the development of the Human Dietary Digital Twin—a computational model for the prediction of individual metabolic responses to complex meals. This modeling work will be carried out by a PhD candidate at the Technical University of Eindhoven. The project is part of a larger public-private partnership funded by TKI and private partners.
As a PhD candidate on this project, you will be responsible for: - designing two dietary intervention trials and preparing the medical ethical approval dossier, in close collaboration with the project team;
- coordinating the execution of these trials, in collaboration with the staff of the WUR Human Research Unit (HRU);
- performing data analysis and interpretation;
- publishing the findings in peer-reviewed journals and presenting research output at consortium meetings and (inter)national conferences;
- supervising BSc/MSc students and research assistants, where appropriate.
You will work hereThe research is embedded within the Chair Group
Nutrition, Metabolism and Genomics, Within this group, you will be part of the Precision Nutrition for Cardiometabolic Health team, led by
Prof. Lydia Afman. You will be co-supervised by
dr. Anouk Gijbels.