PhD-candidate for modeling gut microbiome and depressive symptoms interactions

Depressive disorders affect approximately 322 million people worldwide and are the leading cause of disability globally, impacting nearly every aspect of daily life. Despite the availability of effective treatments, the overall burden of depression has not decreased in recent decades. Emerging evidence points to a potential link between depression and the gut microbiome - the vast and diverse community of micro organisms living in the human digestive tract.

This PhD project aims to investigate specific bacterial taxa, their metabolic products, and their interactions in relation to depressive symptoms. Using large-scale, multi-omic, and multi-cohort data, the goal is to generate both causal and temporal insights into the microbiome–depression connection.

The project is part of Guts to Beat Depression!, a ZonMw Open Competition-funded collaboration between the University of Amsterdam (UvA), Amsterdam UMC and Erasmus MC. The overarching objective is to identify (your role) and validate (the role of a second PhD candidate) microbial targets for the diagnosis, treatment, or prevention of depression. This multidisciplinary initiative brings together expertise from microbiomics, psychiatry, epidemiology, neurobiology and data science.

We are looking for a PhD candidate who is highly analytical and demonstrates a strong problem-solving mindset. You should be capable of working independently, while also showing initiative and contributing actively to collaborative research environments. Experience in epidemiological research is an asset. You are skilled in data analysis and have above-average computer literacy, ideally with programming experience in R or a similar language. You are an effective communicator, both in writing and in presentations. Fluency in English is required; proficiency in Dutch is an advantage.

Specific Requirements:

• A master’s degree in Medicine, Biomedical Sciences, Health Sciences, Bioinformatics, or a related discipline.
• Demonstrated interest in scientific questions related to the gut microbiome, early-life health and underlying biological mechanisms such as genetics, epigenetics, and/or metabolomics.

You will be based at Erasmus MC in Rotterdam, within the Laboratory of Population Genomics at the Department of Internal Medicine. You will work with microbiome and mental health data from the Rotterdam Study and HELIUS-Study, and you will contribute to multi-cohort research in collaboration with the CHARGE consortium.

You will be supervised by an interdisciplinary team from the Science faculty UvA, department of Psychiatry of Amsterdam UMC, and Erasmus MC.