The position
The department of Surgery is looking for a highly motivated candidate for a fully funded PhD project. You will participate in the development of new techniques for imaging the atherosclerotic lesion composition using an automated non-invasive photoacoustic spectral imaging surveillance strategy. Are you the new colleague we are looking for? Photoacoustic imaging using natural spectral emission of tissue components can be used for lesion composition analysis since atherosclerotic lesions are rich in components that have natural emission spectra (haemoglobin, lipids and calcification). Images will be obtained from atherosclerotic lesions, after constructing a well-validated library of tissue chromophores, multi-spectral photoacoustic, and ultrasound, by using a combined ultrasound photoacoustics-imaging platform. Spectral unmixing will be used to identify specific tissue components. You will validate the acquired data against the gold standard of histology. To further improve lesion vulnerability prediction, you will develop in vivo cell-imaging strategies with labeled nanoparticles. To improve the time consuming image processing, you also participate in the development of machine learning approaches for combined automated segmentation, quantification, and classification of plaque volume. You will use in vivo imaging techniques on preclinical animal models.
Your profile
You hold a master’s degree in biomedical sciences, technical medicine, medical biology, biopharmaceutical sciences or a related discipline, and you have obtained (or are willing to obtain) the certificate Article 9 Laboratory Animal Science (or European Equivalent). You have substantial knowledge of imaging and image analysis techniques as well as machine learning strategies. Experience with animal handling, and immunohistochemistry is a plus. You have a perseverant mind-set and are a creative team player with excellent (verbal and written) communication skills in English. Furthermore, you are highly motivated to develop your skills as an independent researcher.
What we offer
You will be given an employment contract for the production of a PhD thesis for the duration of the program with a maximum of four years. The salary amounts to € 2,495 gross per month in the first year, up to a maximum of € 3,196 in the last year with fulltime employment (scale Pro, CAO UMC).
Working at the LUMC
The LUMC, situated in Leiden, the Netherlands, is an academic medical centre for patient care, research and education, aiming to meet the challenges of tomorrow’s health care. It has a strong focus on research, connecting and combining fundamental research into disease-causing mechanisms with patient-focussed studies in areas like oncology, regenerative medicine and population health. The LUMC has research facilities that include capabilities for multiple appliances. The combination with clinical and societal outreach programmes allows for ground-breaking research and innovation in basic and applied science. You will be part of the vascular surgery research group of the Department of Surgery. You will work in a team that focuses on the effect of immunomodulation on cardiovascular diseases. We use state-of-the-art techniques for research available at the surgery department and core facilities (microsurgery, imaging, animal facility etc). This project is part of a collaboration between the LUMC, Fujifilm VisualSonics and Percuros.
More information
A detailed job description can be found at www.lumc.nl/vacancies. You may also contact Margreet de Vries, assistant professor, department of Surgery, telephone: +31 (0)71 526 5147 [Email Address Removed]
How to apply
Please apply via our online form at www.lumc.nl/vacatures.
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