The candidate will work within the Mobile Health Unit (UHasselt, ZOL, Jessa) and closely collaborate with international partners from the Netherlands and Germany. The core of the research consists of (1) analyzing retrospective and prospective clinical datasets to map care pathways and risk profiles, (2) supporting in the development and validation of personalized early warning scores (e.g., Individual Reference Intervals), and (3) evaluating these models within a multicenter clinical study (RCT) in a hybrid care context. The candidate will closely collaborate with colleagues within the Data Science Institute.

Within the VITAL PhD project, the candidate will be responsible for a combination of research, development, and implementation activities at the intersection of clinical oncology, digital health, and data science. The main tasks include:

Retrospective clinical trials
• Analyzing and interpreting existing retrospective data
• Setting up new retrospective trials within the consortium
• Collaborating with the DSI colleagues to enable feature selection to improve the prediction model
Prospective clinical trials
• Setting up multiple prospective clinical trials, including a multicenter RCT
• Independently preparing ethical and FAMHP dossiers to obtain approval prior to initiating the trials
Digital health co-creation towards implementation
• Mapping of patient care pathways
• Organizing co-creation sessions
• Identification of risk profiles associated with complications, hospital admissions, and treatment outcomes
Health-economic evaluation
• Identifying and collecting health-economic related information in the clinical trials
Interdisciplinary collaboration
• Participation to international meetings as part of the project’s consortium
• Collaborate with various partners (clinical, technical, financial)
Scientific output & dissemination
• Publication of results in peer-reviewed international journals.
• Presentation of findings at scientific conferences.
• Contribution to knowledge transfer activities within clinical and academic settings

The Limburg Clinical Research Center (LCRC) is a collaboration between Hasselt University, Jessa Ziekenhuis, and Ziekenhuis Oost-Limburg (ZOL). The center focuses on patient-centered clinical scientific research, aiming to improve healthcare by combining academic research with clinical practice. The Mobile Health Unit (MHU) is a multidisciplinary center of expertise within the Limburg Clinical Research Center, where collaboration around innovative digital healthcare is central. The MHU focuses on the development, validation, and implementation of mobile and remote monitoring applications, with the goal of making care more personalized, proactive, and closer to the patient. By combining clinical expertise, data science, and technological innovation, the MHU translates research into concrete applications in healthcare practice.

Within this stimulating environment, a motivated candidate is sought to carry out a PhD. This PhD position is part of the international VITAL project, which focuses on the development, validation, and implementation of personalized remote monitoring in oncological care, with a specific focus on lung cancer.

Lung cancer patients in the Meuse–Rhine Euroregion currently face reactive follow-up care, where complications (on treatment) are often only detected once they become clinically manifest, leading to avoidable emergency admissions and hospitalizations. This PhD aims to contribute to the transition toward a proactive care model through the use of continuous vital parameter monitoring and personalized predictive models.

In addition, the PhD will contribute to the implementation of this innovative care model, including integration into clinical workflows, evaluation of usability and acceptance by patients and healthcare providers, and support for health economic analyses.

This PhD trajectory is positioned at the intersection of clinical research, data science, and digital health, and contributes to the development of scalable, patient-centered care models that improve quality of life and reduce pressure on healthcare systems.
 

• Master Biomedical Sciences or equivalent, work experience is an added value but not a must.
  Final-year students are (likewise) encouraged to apply.

• You will work closely with colleagues within MHU, as well as with the DSI colleagues. You are expected to contribute to the collective and general interest and to have a team-oriented mindset.

• You communicate fluently in Dutch and English.
• You are ambitious and driven, eager to contribute to the research, and proactive in your thinking.
• You have strong communication skills and are able to bridge different disciplines (clinical, technical, academic). You can communicate effectively, critically, and constructively with colleagues and consortium partners.
• You are curious and eager to learn. You are not limited to a strictly defined PhD trajectory but aim to broaden your horizon and explore topics beyond the immediate scope of your PhD.
• Unlike a structured study program with clearly defined assignments, a PhD requires you to largely direct your own work. Your supervisor and colleagues provide support, but you are the driving force behind your project.
• You think critically about research questions, literature, etc., and reflect on these together with your colleagues.
• You manage your own PhD research and, together with the MHU team, help organize meetings, conferences, presentations, etc. Additionally, it is important that you can effectively organize clinical studies, including patient interactions.

• You are open to growth and able to handle constructive criticism well.

You will be appointed and paid as PhD student.
We offer you an appointment for a period of 2 years that will be extended for another 2 years, after positive evaluation.

The selection procedure consists of a preselection based on application file and an interview.

Apply now
Apply up to 04.06.2026