Postdoc: Virtual biopsy of brain tumours

With this project we aim to reduce the need for surgical biopsies in patients with a brain tumour by developing artificial intelligence (AI) technology which integrates magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and histopathology to eventually obtain all clinically relevant diagnostic information non-invasively from MRI only: a virtual biopsy.

As a post-doc, you will contribute to the development of advanced image analysis and machine learning techniques that will automatically diagnose brain tumour genotypes from tissue samples, and to link tissue sample characteristics with MRI-based features. This is a challenging and multidisciplinary project, bridging technical, biological and clinical disciplines.

This is one of several positions in the Brain Tumour Virtual Biopsy Project, on which 2 PhD students already started in 2023. Both conventional and advanced MRI and histopathological staining techniques will be used. A large database of MRI scans, tissue samples and clinical information will be collated for this project, both retrospectively and prospectively. Relevant quantitative features from radiological (‘radiomics’) and pathological (‘pathomics’) images will need to be automatically extracted, for which processing pipelines are currently under development.

Projectmanager of adviseur Onderzoeksbeleid en Advies

Jij gaat als project manager/adviseur een essentiële bijdrage leveren aan het succes van het organisatie brede project Impulse (Improve Human related Research). Met Impulse gaat het Erasmus MC de komende jaren inzetten op een verbeterslag ten aanzien van de wijze van ondersteuning bij het uitvoeren van wetenschappelijk onderzoek met mensen.
Het doel van het project is om processen op het gebied van mens-gebonden (WMO-plichtig) onderzoek meer eenduidig, toegankelijk en efficiënt in te richten. Als projectmanager ondersteun je de besluitvorming inhoudelijk, procesmatig en procedureel in de verschillende fasen van het Impulse project.

Belangrijke onderwerpen waar je meteen mee aan de slag kan, zijn:
Het inrichten van integrale ondersteuning van onderzoekers.
Het inrichten van een kwaliteitssysteem voor klinisch onderzoek.
Het (door)ontwikkelen van governance van (klinische onderzoek).

Je neemt deel aan formele en informele overleggen, en brengt de juiste mensen bij elkaar om samen te werken aan een onderwerp. Zo ben jij de drijvende kracht om mensen in heel het Erasmus MC met elkaar te verbinden en samen te werken aan ons gemeenschappelijk doel om excellent onderzoek te doen.

Hou jij van aanpakken en schuw je het niet om gevraagd en ongevraagd advies te geven en heb je affiniteit met wetenschappelijk onderzoek? Dan zijn wij op zoek naar jou!

PhD position to study macrophages in early liver metastasis

Mac4Me (Macrophage Targets for Metastatic Treatment) is a pan-European Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network (DC) aimed at understanding the specific tumour cell-immune host interactions at the metastatic site to identify new immune targets. Mac4Me will use animal-free organ-on-chip (OoC) systems to recapitulate early liver, bone and brain metastasis of cancer developing across our life, such as neuroblastoma, breast and prostate cancer. Data from these preclinical models will be integrated with real-world clinical data using AI approaches to identify new immune targets. Mac4Me offers a unique and innovative research training programme comprising both scientific knowledge and transferable skills and integrating participatory science principles as a starting point.

At Erasmus MC, the candidate will focus on establishing a standardized human liver organ-on-chip integrated with (age-relevant) organ-resident and blood monocyte-derived macrophage population and identify macrophage and matrix changes induced upon interaction with prostate or breast cancer cells. In collaboration with our Mac4Me partners compounds to target this immune interaction will be selected and tested in the model. The PhD candidate will work in close collaboration with other Mac4Me candidates that focus on the brain and bone metastasis OoC in Germany, Ireland and Switzerland. Intensive collaboration and short-stay research visits to our partners in Italy, the UK, Ireland and France are planned as an integral part of the project. The research will be complemented with a multidisciplinary educational agenda shared by all Mac4Me candidates.

PhD position to study therapy response in the context of ageing immune cells and the liver-specific metastasis environment

Mac4Me (Macrophage Targets for Metastatic Treatment) is a pan-European Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network (DC) aimed at understanding the specific tumour cell-immune host interactions at the metastatic site to identify new immune targets. Mac4Me will use animal-free organ-on-chip (OoC) systems to recapitulate early liver, bone and brain metastasis of cancer developing across our life, such as neuroblastoma, breast and prostate cancer. Data from these preclinical models will be integrated with real-world clinical data using AI approaches to identify new immune targets. Mac4Me offers a unique and innovative research training programme comprising both scientific knowledge and transferable skills and integrating participatory science principles as a starting point.

At Erasmus MC, the candidate will focus on the therapy response of prostate- and breast cancer cells to Standard of Care (SoC) therapies in the context of age-relevant and liver-specific microenvironment. In collaboration with our Mac4Me partners efficacy of SOC and combinations with novel macrophage targeting approaches will be tested in the OoC liver model. The PhD candidate will work in close collaboration with other Mac4Me candidates working on the therapy responses in bone metastasis in Germany. Intensive collaboration and short-stay research visits to our partners in the UK, Germany and France are planned as an integral part of the project. The research will be complemented with a multidisciplinary educational agenda shared by all Mac4Me candidates.

PhD student (Promovendus) Cardiovascular Epidemiology

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), principally coronary heart disease and stroke, are the leading cause of global mortality and a major contributor to disability. The main underlying pathology is atherosclerosis, which often remains undetected until rupture of unstable atherosclerotic lesions causes catastrophic clinical manifestations.

Currently, few biomarkers exist that can indicate risk of CVD and the current treatment strategies rely on risk factor management. Within the context of two large national and international consortia, we aim to discover new methods to detect and treat atherosclerosis. Our aim is to better classify and mitigate the risk of cardiovascular disease by generating and analyzing novel types of genetic and proteomic data and defining novel prognostic and therapeutic targets for cardiovascular disease. Within this project, we will work with multiple genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic databases within the large-scale longitudinal population-based cohorts to advance our understanding of the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and advance the clinical management of CVD. This will allow for stratification of persons at risk for CVD and tailor-made anti-atherosclerosis therapeutics.

This project is a unique opportunity for someone seeking experience to work with a large collection of epidemiological datasets. As candidate you will be working at the Department of Epidemiology and will be responsible for data collection, setting up new studies, analyses of large-scale genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic datasets, and writing internationally peer-reviewed publications. This will result in an academic dissertation to obtain your PhD degree.