PhD candidate SMARTTEST: early detection of abnormalities in children with congenital heart disease

Make a meaningful impact with monitoring technology on the lives of young children with congenital heart disease! Start your PhD journey at UMC Utrecht and become part of the multidisciplinary Horizon-MSCA-DN 2020 SMARTTEST initiative.

Job description

As a PhD candidate within the SMARTTEST project, you will tackle challenges in remote detection of vital parameters and abnormalities in young children with congenital heart disease (CHD). Your research will focus on tailoring solutions to meet the specific needs of patients and families, ultimately improving outcomes. Key questions include: Can remote monitoring prevent complications and optimize child-parent interactions? How can personalized care be enhanced for this vulnerable group?

Your responsibilities will include:

• Investigating the expectations of families and healthcare providers regarding a remote health monitoring system.
• Developing a ground-truth reference system for validating contactless monitoring technology by tracking vital parameters and physical activities.
• Customizing the monitoring platform for CHD patients by creating a self-adaptive method for early detection of hypoxia, tachypnoea, growth restriction, and developmental stagnation.
• Demonstrating the documented impact of early detection on the management and outcomes of congenital heart disease.
• Establishing an early abnormality detection pipeline using minimal datasets based on biomedical insights and real-world data.

Requirements

We are looking for a motivated and communicative PhD candidate with a biomedical engineering background who is eager to contribute to the improvement of care for young children with CHD. Additionally, you:

• Hold a master’s degree in biomedical engineering, technical medicine, or a related field.
• Have experience in data processing and analysis of repeated measurements.
• Are willing to explore qualitative research to assess the impact of technological innovations on children and their families.
• Are proficient in English and ready to work in an international, multidisciplinary environment.
• Meet the MSCA eligibility criteria, including the requirement for transnational mobility.

Conditions of employment

The maximum salary for this position (36 - 36 hours) is € 3.824,00 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).

Department

You will join the European SMARTTEST project, which offers 11 PhD positions across top institutions in Europe. Based and employed at UMC Utrecht, you will contribute to cutting-edge innovations by integrating advanced technology with a multidisciplinary approach. Everything is about people. This makes UMC Utrecht an exceptional employer with a relentless multidisciplinary approach that guarantees patients benefit from innovative technological solutions.

SMARTTEST is funded by Horizon Europe through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA). The network involves leading academic and industrial partners across four countries (the Netherlands, Italy, Poland, and Germany), including institutions such as the University of Twente, KU Leuven, and Politecnico di Milano. This collaborative environment ensures a rich, interdisciplinary research experience.

Learn more about the SMARTTEST Project: https://dn-smarttest.eu/

Additional information

Contact our colleague:
Kim van Loon
088 75 594 75
k.vanloon-2@umcutrecht.nl