A complete 4 year PhD focusing on the genetic factors and molecular mechanisms that underly intracranial aneurysms (IA). IA can cause aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (ASAH), a severe and often lethal type of stroke with significant socio-economic burden.

Genetics play a key role in IA. Work by the project supervisors has contributed to several impactful discoveries in the genetics of IA. Unlike most cardiovascular disease, there is a strong female preponderance for IA, with 65% of cases being women. However, the sex-specific risk of IA is poorly understudied. Within this project, you will work to unravel the sex-specific genetic factors using the largest collection of genetics data from IA patients in the world. You will apply state-of-the-art bioinformatic methods to identify autosomal genetic and X-linked genetics variants contributing to the sex difference in IA. In addition, you will perform pathway and in-depth genomics driven drug discovery analyses, as this project also aims to identify sex-specific therapeutic pathways and targets to be pursued in follow-up analyses.

We offer a temporary position for one year, starting March/April 2023. Upon a positive performance, the appointment will be extended for three further years.

You are an ambitious and driven candidate looking to apply your own initiative and creativity in high impact research. This project will be dominated by computational work, but the ideal candidate will be motivated to also contribute to relevant wetlab experiments.

We require MSc level experience in neuroscience, molecular biology, bioinformatics, genetics or a related scientific discipline. You do not need to be an expert in bioinformatics or any specific techniques outlined in the project description. However, your cv will need to provide clear evidence that supports an interest in performing computational analyses of biological datasets. Experience in R programming and human genetics data is highly desirable.

The maximum salary for this position (36 - 36 hours) is € 3.536,00 gross per month based on full-time employment.

In addition, we offer an annual benefit of 8.3%, holiday allowance, travel expenses and career opportunities. The terms of employment are in accordance with the Cao University Medical Centers (UMC).

The project will be performed at the UMC-U brain centre, department of Neurology, within a collaboration between dr Ynte Ruigrok and prof Jan Veldink. The department of Neurology is world leading in research on the genetics of intracranial aneurysms.

You will also work as part of the International Stroke Genetics Consortium (ISGC) intracranial aneurysm working group, a global intracranial aneurysm genetics consortium coordinated by one of the project supervisors. Utrecht University is among the top universities in Europe (1st in Netherlands, 13th in Europe, 49th in world), while the Brain division is among the top 5 in Europe for the selected research areas.