Vacancy for a PhD student in drug safety (pharmacoepidemiology)

Faculty of Science
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Division of pharmacoepidemiology and -therapy

Vacancy for a PhD student in drug
safety (pharmacoepidemiology)
The Netherlands / Denmark / United Kingdom
Utrecht University, Faculty of Science:
The new Faculty of Science consists of six departments: Biology,
Pharmaceutical
Sciences, Information and Computing Sciences, Physics and Astronomy,
Chemistry and
Mathematics. The Faculty is home to 3500 students and nearly 2000 staff and
is
internationally renowned for the quality of its research. The Faculty's
academic
programmes reflect developments in today's society.
The department of Pharmaceutical Sciences is responsible for teaching in
pharmacy, and
drug-related research. The division of Pharmacoepidemiology and
Pharmacotherapy has
currently a job opening for a PhD student in pharmacoepidemiology and drug
safety.
Scope of the post:
Fulltime during 3 year (1.0 fte).
Salary:
The gross salary is according to the collective agreement of Dutch
Universities, in the
range between € 2000-€ 2500 per month.
Job description:
You will address the main question, why the potential risk of bone fractures
is different
between users of diabetes medication in Denmark, the United Kingdom and the
Netherlands. In addition, you will estimate the risk of fracture in patients
with Multiple
Sclerosis. The world's largest medical databases will be analyzed, yielding
the
computerized medical data of approximately 20 million patients. The research
project will
hopefully result in new, better methods to evaluate side effects of drugs.
You will be
conducting statistical analyses (not too complex) and literature review. The
results of
your work will be presented at international scientific meetings, and will
be published in
peer-reviewed scientific journals. The scientific publication will be the
backbone of your
PhD thesis.
The job will be based in Utrecht, the Netherlands, close to Amsterdam and
Schiphol
airport. At least three months of the research project will be conducted in
Denmark
(Copenhagen/Aarhus). In this part, you'll be supervised by a Danish
endocrinologist /
epidemiologist. There are exciting possibilities to conduct part of the
research project in
central London (at the UK General Practice Research Database). Partly
working from
home is another possibility of this project. You will be supervised by Dr.
Frank de Vries,
pharmacist/epidemiologist, Dr. Tjeerd-Pieter van Staa, medical
doctor/epidemiologist, en
Prof. Dr. Bert Leufkens, professor in pharmacoepidemiology.
Each year, approximately 16,000 patients sustain a hip fracture in the
Netherlands.
About 20% die within the year after the hip fracture. Scientists
continuously monitor
potential side-effects (such as hip fractures) of drugs that have been
brought onto the
market.
Qualifications:
You have either a master degree in epidemiology, statistics, mathematics, or
public
health. Medical doctors or pharmacists, chemists or candidates with a higher
degree in
biomedical science or engineering are invited to apply as well. You have no
difficulties
with writing in English. You are proactive and reliable. You are able to
prove that you
have a working permit for at least the Netherlands and Denmark (both
countries are part
of the European Union).
Terms of employment:
The salary is supplemented with a holiday bonus of 8% and an end-of-year
bonus of
6,4% per year. In addition we offer: a pension scheme, a partially paid
parental leave,
flexible employment conditions in which you may trade salary for vacation
days or vice
versa. Conditions are based on the Collective Employment Agreement of the
Dutch
Universities. The research group will provide the candidate with necessary
support on all
aspects of the project.
Further details:
Additional information about the vacancy can be obtained from Dr Frank de
Vries: phone:
+31(0)610004382 – f.devries@uu.nl
How to apply:
Please send your application (including a letter of motivation, curriculum
vitae and
contact details of at least two references) before 2 March 2009 to Dr Frank
de Vries,
f.devries@uu.nl.