PhD student - HTA in Direct-DCIS

The Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) forms together with the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital a Comprehensive Cancer Center, combining excellence in all stages of anticancer research and patient care. It is located in Amsterdam and conducts research in all major areas of oncology, with special emphasis on immunology, cancer cell biology, and translational research. It is a stimulating international environment with closely collaborating researchers and clinicians. 

The research group of Prof.dr. V.P. Retèl conducts Health Technology Assessment (HTA) and health economic research alongside the translational pathway and aims to contribute to accelerate patient access in case of promising innovations. At the NKI, health economic studies and HTA have become increasing important from early stages of research that lead to clinical innovations. They help to inform policy- and reimbursement decisions, to guide the translational research process, and to anticipate on technological and environmental developments. The research group of Prof.dr. V.P. Retèl is part of the department of Psychosocial and Epidemiological research and consists of 2 postdocs, 9 PhDs, 1 research assistant, and a number of master students. 

Close collaboration exists with the research group of Prof.dr. E.W. de Bekker-Grob at Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management (ESHPM). ESHPM is part of Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) and is responsible for a bachelors and three (international) master programs on health policy, economics and management, serving more than 800 students. ESHPM is a multidisciplinary school with research focusing on three main themes: ‘competition and regulation in healthcare’; ‘quality and efficiency in healthcare’; and ‘healthcare management’. The research group of Prof.dr. E.W. de Bekker-Grob focusses on Health Economics and Health Preference research, which is embedded in the ESHPM’s Health Technology Assessment group, the interfaculty Erasmus Choice Modelling Centre (ECMC), and the Erasmus Centre for Health Economics Rotterdam (EsCHER).

The Project
Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is considered a preliminary stage of breast cancer. Yet the majority of DCIS abnormalities never grow into breast cancer and thus these are harmless. Because we do not currently know which DCIS can grow into breast cancer and which cannot, almost all women with DCIS are now routinely treated intensively through breast-conserving surgery, often followed by radiotherapy, or even mastectomy. Our mission is to prevent unnecessary treatment of the harmless DCIS abnormalities and thus preserve the quality of life of many women. 

Therefore, within the NWO program of the "National Science Agenda," the highly ambitious "Direct-DCIS" project was recently launched (2022 | NWO). The PhD candidate will be working in this very large, ambitious project, by using large datasets of DCIS patients through innovative artificial intelligence (AI), an accurate prediction model for the risk of developing invasive breast cancer after detection of DCIS will be developed. This research is highly multidisciplinary - epidemiologists, radiologists, pathologists, surgeons, AI researchers, health economists, patient representatives and several companies, among others, will work closely together.

The HTA group in the NKI is together with the Health Economics and Health Preference research group in the Erasmus University Rotterdam, work package (WP) leader in the project. This WP is especially focussing on Patient Preferences and Health Technology Assessment (including Ethical, Legal, Social/Organisational Issues). The PhD project is focussed on the first part of the research; namely constructing a dynamic cost-effectiveness model based on national retrospective and prospective data, incorporating dynamics by means of the trend over time from Dutch registries (IKNL and DHD), and comprehensive scenarios.

Job requirements
We seek a highly motivated and ambitious PhD student with a strong affinity for health economics, healthcare policy and computational science. 

PhD specific job requirements
We are searching for a researcher with the following expertise and experience:

• You have a Master degree in Health Sciences OR Health Economics OR Epidemiology OR Computational Science OR Econometrics OR related degree
• You are interested in applied decision modelling in the field of health care (our connection with the clinic is very strong);
• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal (English). Dutch language skills are not required, but could be handy.

You will work in a dynamic international scientific environment and collaborate with colleagues at the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital, the NKI, the Erasmus University Rotterdam and at other European research institutes. PhD students enter the Amsterdam Oncology graduate school and have the opportunity to follow numerous high-quality courses.

The gross salary per month will range between € 3.523 to € 4.277 according to standard Dutch PhD salary scale, depending on previous experience. The terms of employment will be in accordance with the CAO Ziekenhuizen (Collective Labor Agreement for Hospitals). The position is for 4 years.

Interested?
Please submit your CV, a letter of motivation, and contact information of references via the NKI job portal (Vacancies | Netherlands Cancer Institute (nki.nl)). The closing date is June 1st, 2024. Initial interviews will be held in mid-June.

For further information visit our website or contact Prof. dr. V.P. Retèl (v.retel@nki.nl) or Prof. dr. Esther de Bekker-Grob (debekker-grob@eshpm.eur.nl).