PhD on advancing positive airway pressure therapy for sleep apnea

Are you eager to work in a multidisciplinary team to improve sleep apnea treatment? The Biomedical Diagnostic (BM/d) Lab at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TUe) is seeking an PhD candidate to work in close collaboration the Center for Sleep Medicine Kempenhaeghe and Philips Sleep & Respiratory Care.

Information
Sleep is vital for health, cognitive function and emotional well-being. Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a common sleep disorder that disrupts breathing during sleep due to collapse of the upper airway, increasing health risks like cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and depression, along with daytime sleepiness and accident risk.

Positive Airway Pressure (PAP) therapy is a first line treatments for OSA, and works by delivering pressurized air to keep the airway open. Traditionally, titration of optimal PAP parameters was done in sleep labs, but home titration using auto-adjusting PAP devices is gaining popularity for its convenience. However, this approach comes with the downside of not allowing measurement of objective sleep parameters that would be traditionally collected with a full polysomnographic recording if titration were done in the lab.

Improvements in objective and experienced sleep quality, and reductions in daytime symptoms all play a crucial role in adherence to PAP therapy. These are determinants of compliance, as patients struggling to sleep or those who do not experience improvements in daily function, are less likely to adhere to the therapy.

In this project, we aim to improve our understanding of the effect of PAP therapy on sleep quality and patient outcomes.

The candidate will be responsible for setting up and running a clinical data collection trial, to obtain objective and subjective measurements of sleep during the home-based auto-titration period.

Further, the candidate will explore using state-of-the-art statistical and data analysis methods, how this information relates to therapeutic outcomes, and retrospectively, how this information can be used by physicians, to provide deeper insights during this critical phase of clinical care.

We are looking for an enthusiastic researcher with a background in health-related research, who enjoys working in a multidisciplinary team with academic, clinical and industrial partners. The candidate should have:

• A MSc degree (or planning to obtain MSc in the immediate future) in Medical, Health or Life Science or related relevant fields (e.g. Technical Medicine, Biomedical Signal Processing, Cognitive Neuroscience, Sleep Medicine)
• Experience in conducting biomedical trials in clinical and/or home settings using physiological parameters. Knowledge of sleep is a bonus
• A strong and demonstrable background in methodology and experienced with physiological signal processing, data analysis and statistical methods
• Can think out of the box, distinguish main lines from details, and provide structure to their work
• Excellent working and communication skills in research & clinical professional as well as patient-facing settings
• Written fluency in English, for internal reporting and external publications
• Spoken fluency in English and Dutch, for interactions with hospital staff and patients.

A meaningful job in a dynamic and ambitious university, in an interdisciplinary setting and within an international network. You will work on a beautiful, green campus within walking distance of the central train station. In addition, we offer you:

• Full-time employment for four years, with an intermediate assessment after nine months. You will spend a minimum of 10% of your four-year employment on teaching tasks, with a maximum of 15% per year of your employment.
• Salary and benefits (such as a pension scheme, paid pregnancy and maternity leave, partially paid parental leave) in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, scale P (min. € 3,059 - max. € 3,881).
• A year-end bonus of 8.3% and annual vacation pay of 8%.
• High-quality training programs and other support to grow into a self-aware, autonomous scientific researcher. At TU/e we challenge you to take charge of your own learning process.
• An excellent technical infrastructure, on-campus children's day care and sports facilities.
• An allowance for commuting, working from home and internet costs.
• A Staff Immigration Team and a tax compensation scheme (the 30% facility) for international candidates.