PhD candidate 'Just and Trustworthy AI for freezing of gait in Parkinson's disease'

This PhD project is part of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network Just Health. JustHealth is an international, intersectoral and highly interdisciplinary project providing Marie Skłodowska-Curie PhD Fellowships to 8 doctoral candidates, with the potential to become the leaders of tomorrow in the booming domain of Artificial Intelligence (AI) applied to the health sector. The funding has been obtained through the Horizon Europe MSCA programme.

JustHealth aims to develop, test, validate, and valorise a robust ethics and governance framework for AI in healthcare, grounded in decolonised values and principles and on a co-creation approach, with the ultimate goal of ensuring that AI systems (especially those based on Foundation Models (FMs)) are not only trustworthy but also just (i.e. guaranteeing social justice for Global Health).
You will be embedded within the research groups of the Department of Rehabilitation at Radboudumc and the Center of Expertise for Parkinson's Disease. Radboudumc is a global leader in the field of Parkinson's disease and neurological gait disorders. Your project will focus on gait impairments in Parkinson's disease and specifically on freezing of gait.

The effectiveness of interventions—such as medication adjustments or deep brain stimulation—for gait impairments in Parkinson's disease is currently assessed through snapshot evaluations in clinical settings. However, a more accurate assessment would ideally be based on data collected during daily life. To achieve this, an interactive dashboard should be developed in co-creation with all relevant stakeholders, including people with Parkinson's disease, caregivers, physiotherapists, and clinicians. This interface should then be tested and validated in a pilot study, for example by assessing the impact of on-demand cueing on freezing of gait.

EXPECTED RESULTS:

• A sustainable, scalable and just data collection method that captures real-world freezing of gait severity.
• A sustainable, scalable and just care pathway for better management of freezing of gait in persons with Parkinson's disease.

Additional essential requirements:

• Marie Curie mobility rules do apply: candidates should not have worked in the host country for more than 12 months in the last three years.
• Completed Masters degree (e.g., Cognitive Neuroscience, Biomedical Sciences, Medical Biology, Medicine).
• You are ambitious, a creative thinker, and possess excellent organizational skills.
• You are a team player.
• You have an interest in Parkinson's disease, and gait disorders.
• You have experience with data collection and data analysis (e.g. Matlab).
• You have excellent communication and social skills, enabling pleasant and effective interaction with study participants.

Desirable requirements:

• Good command of Dutch.

Selection criteria:
All eligible applications will be assessed by a Selection panel according to the following criterion “Qualifications and previous experience”and related sub-criteria:

Selection criterion and sub-criteria for admission to the shortlist Score Qualifications and previous experience: 0-50.

• A. quality of academic performance 10.
• B. current knowledge and expertise 10.
• C. relevant research skills 10.
• D. motivation to apply 10.
• E. Good command of Dutch 10.

Selection criterion and sub-criteria of shortlisted candidates Maximum Score:
Communication and Personal skills: 0-70.

• F. Ability to design and conduct original research in the subject area of the individual research project 10.
• G. Excellent oral communication in English 10.
• H. Enthusiasm, proactivity, creativity and commitment 10.
• I. Interpersonal skills 10.
• J. Attitude to team working and in working in local and international setting 10.
• K. Expected impact of the doctorate on the DC's future career 10.
• L. Ability to interact with Dutch speaking patients and caregivers 10.

At Radboud university medical center, you build on your future. We are committed to providing the best care, education, and research. And we are true to our word, because we help you develop and seize opportunities and give you the room to grow. As an employer, we believe that employees should feel vital and happy at work in all stages of life. We are also committed to creating a healthy and safe working environment. Our employment conditions contribute to that. What we offer:

• Upon commencement of employment, you will start at scale 10A, step 0 (€ 3.108 based on a full-time appointment). Over a maximum period of 4 years, you will progress to scale 10A, step 3 (€3.939 based on a full-time appointment). You will also receive an 8% holiday allowance, an 8.3% end-of-year bonus, and a 47% to 72% bonus for working unsocial hours.
• 176 vacation hours per year based on a 36-hour working week.

You will be embedded within the research groups of the Department of Rehabilitation at Radboudumc and the Center of Expertise for Parkinson's Disease. Dr. Jorik Nonnekes will be your primary supervisor. Planned secondments involve KU Leuven and Cue2Walk International.

Radboudumc
Welcome to Radboud university medical center (Radboudumc), where scientific breakthroughs are born through the curiosity and passion of our collaborating researchers in a vibrant environment. We believe trust and excitement are crucial elements to achieving our goals, and we approach our research as teams and with the utmost rigor to make a significant impact on health and healthcare. Our researchers are driven by their fascination with the biological, psychological, and sociological mechanisms underlying health and healthcare. They collaborate with partners from all over the world to improve health outcomes for all. Radboudumc unites patient care, research, education, and corporate learning, which allows us to approach our mission to shape the health and healthcare of the future in an innovative and person-centered way.

Our ambition is to lead the way in the pursuit of prevention, sustainability, meaningful care. We believe that through our research, we can significantly improve the health and well-being of society. Join us on our mission to make a difference in healthcare. Become a part of our community of gifted researchers, professionals or patient partners who are dedicated to making a real impact on population health and healthcare.

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