PhD Position at Neurology & Pediatric Neurology Department

Job title:

PhD Position at Neurology & Pediatric Neurology Department

Company

VIB

Job description

The teams of Dr. Hannah Stamberger (Neurology department UZA [https://www.uza.be/en] and Antwerp University [https://www.uantwerpen.be/en/] and The Weckhuysen team [https://weckhuysenlab.sites.vib.be/en] at the VIB-UAntwerp Center for Molecular Neurology, Belgium [https://cmn.sites.vib.be/en] ) and Dr. An-Sofie Schoonjans (Pediatric Neurology Department UZA) are seeking a highly motivated PhD student to work on clinical data analyses and multi-omics approaches in the rare genetic neurodevelopmental syndrome, STXBP1-related disorder (STXBP1-RD). Dr. Stamberger and Dr. Schoonjans are adult and pediatric neurologist respectively with a clinical focus on epilepsy and research focus on rare genetic epilepsy and neurodevelopmental syndromes. Dr. Stamberger is part of the Weckhuysen team which performs leading edge research in gene discovery in epilepsy syndromes using different omics approaches such as short and long-read sequencing and transcriptomics, and iPSC-based disease modeling to better understand the genetic etiologies of intractable epilepsy. The team is part of the European STXBP1 consortium [https://stxbp1eu.org/] .About the project
STXBP1-RD is a rare genetic neurodevelopmental disorder caused by disease causing variants in the STXBP1 gene, which plays a crucial role in neurotransmission. The disorder is characterized by epilepsy, developmental delay leading to significant psychomotor impairments, movement disorders, and behavioral challenges. The clinical presentation of STXBP1-RD is highly variable, and there is currently no established genotype-phenotype correlation. Although there is no cure for this severe condition, several promising disease-modifying therapies may enter clinical trials in the coming years. To support these future trials, the European STXBP1 Consortium has initiated a European, multicenter, STXBP1 registry and natural history study. This PhD project will primarily focus on analyzing the data collected from this study. The 2nd focus of this PhD project will be a search for genetic modifiers in STXBP1-RD to explain the observed phenotypic variability.Your profile
We seek a highly motivated, enthusiastic, critical, and creative individual to join our team. The candidate should have a strong interest in clinical epilepsy/neurology research and be open to acquire novel skills in bioinformatics, biostatistics, and genetics.
Essential
Master’s in medicine, biomedical sciences, bioinformatics/biostatistics, related disciplines or equivalent through experience.
Comfortable in contact with patients/families and able to adapt way of working to the research population of this study, especially children and adults with intellectual and motor disability and their caregivers.
Proficient in verbal and written English and Dutch, preferably also French.
Ability to summarize data extracted from literature and to define research objectives.
Passion for science, self-motivation, flexibility, and team spirit
Desirable but not required
Experience with clinical trials
Experience with data analysis
Experience with RedCAP
Experience with large-scale data, such as genomics and transcriptomics data
Programming experience, preferably in Python or R
A willingness to learn and apply machine learning approachesWe offer
A versatile and challenging job in a vibrant and world-class research environment [https://vib.be/] operating at an international level
Participation in a large European collaboration [https://stxbp1eu.org/]
State-of-the-art research facilities [https://cmn.sites.vib.be/en]
A dedicated training program [https://training.vib.be/] to broaden your expertise and enhance your skill set
A doctoral scholarship for a period of one year, with the possibility of renewal for a further three-year period after positive evaluations.
During the doctoral scholarship, you will be asked to submit and defend an innovative project at the FWO (www.fwo.be) to obtain a personal fellowship. Please do check eligibility criteria prior to applying for this position.
Starting date: as soon as possibleHow to apply?
Submit your application through the VIB online application tool before May 5, 2025. Be sure to include:
a detailed CV incl. a list of previous experience
a letter of motivation explaining why you are interested in our work and aspire this PhD position
the names and contact details of 3 references
For more information, please contact Hannah Stamberger [mailto:hannah.stamberger@vib.be] or An-Sofie Schoonjans [mailto:an-sofie.schoonjans@uza.be] For more information about our research center https://weckhuysenlab.sites.vi… [https://weckhuysenlab.sites.vib.be/en]

Expected salary

Location

Antwerpen

Job date

Wed, 09 Apr 2025 22:00:46 GMT

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