PhD Position: Exposomic Risk of Non-Communicable Disease In Europe

1 - Working at the VUB

For more than 50 years, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel has stood for freedom, equality and solidarity, and this is very much alive on our campuses among students and staff alike. 

At the VUB, you will find a diverse collection of personalities: innovators pur sang, but above all people who are 100% their authentic selves. With some 4,000 employees, we are the largest Dutch-speaking employer, in the private sector, in Brussels; an international city with which we are only too happy to connect and where (around) our 4 campuses are located. 

Add to this our principle of free research - in which self-reflection, a critical attitude and an open, creative mind around scientific and social issues are central - and you have a university that is fundamentally groundbreaking and pioneering in education and research. In short: the VUB all over again. 

Moreover, the VUB is a member of EUTOPIA, an alliance of like-minded European universities, all ready to reinvent themselves.

2 - Position description

The Faculteit Geneeskunde en Farmacie, Department Observerende Klinische wetenschappen, Research Group Electronics and Informatics: Research – Development - Innovation is looking for a PhD-student with a doctoral grant. 

More concretely your work package, for the preparation of a doctorate, contains: 

The exposome covers all environmental exposures across life — from air pollution, noise, temperature, green space, and light, to socioeconomic factors such as income, education, and social cohesion. Understanding the exposome is key to preventing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, cancer, and diabetes, many of which are linked to where people live and work. This research forms the foundation for large-scale initiatives like EMIR and ENACT, which aim to transform our understanding of environmental health risks and translate findings into actionable prevention strategies.

EMIR (Exposomic Myocardial Infarction Risk, launched 2019) investigates the relationship between environmental and socioeconomic exposures and acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in Belgium. It combines national hospital admission data (2012–2021) with high-resolution environmental modelling at patient residences. A first paper from this work is expected in September 2025.

ENACT (Environmental Effect on Health Care and Wellbeing and Active Interventions, EU4Health, 2025–2029) expands this approach to ~30 acute and chronic NCDs across Europe, involving 21 partners from 10 countries.

• Retrospective phase: Use health and environmental data from five pilot countries to develop and validate an EU-wide environmental NCD risk score using statistical and ML methods.
• Prospective phase: Use wearable environmental and physiological sensors to track exposures and health parameters in healthy volunteers, translating the population-level risk score into individualized preclinical disease prediction.

VUB-UZ Brussel leads clinical and methodological development for environmental risk modelling and validation, while VUB-ETRO develops ML models and sensors.

You will play a central role in advancing the EMIR and ENACT projects by integrating epidemiological, environmental, and clinical data to quantify and model exposomic risks for NCDs. This will involve:

• Spatial analysis: Mapping and modelling environmental exposures at fine spatial resolution using GIS tools, geographically weighted regression, and spatial clustering techniques to identify high-risk areas.
• Temporal analysis: Applying time-series methods, and case-crossover designs to examine short- and long-term effects of environmental factors (e.g., heat waves, cold spells) on acute coronary events and other NCDs.
• Statistical modelling: Conducting advanced inferential analyses in R, leveraging packages for epidemiology (e.g., survival, Epi, mgcv), spatial statistics (sp, sf, gstat), and causal inference (dagitty, MatchIt).
• Prospective study coordination: Managing recruitment, data collection, and clinical assessments for healthy volunteers, integrating wearable sensor data with environmental datasets.
• Translation of findings: Converting population-level risk scores into individualized predictions to inform public health interventions and clinical decision-making.

This role offers a unique opportunity to work at the intersection of spatial epidemiology, environmental health, and AI-driven clinical research, using state-of-the-art datasets and analytical tools.

For this function, our Brussels Health Campus (Jette) will serve as your home base. 

3 - Profile

What do we expect from you?

• Master’s degree in biomedical sciences, medicine, or related field, with technical interest

• Team-oriented, independent, and structured work ethic.
• Experience or willingness to learn R and Python for statistical analysis.
• Proficiency in English; working knowledge of Dutch and French for participant interaction

• You have not performed any works in the execution of a mandate as an assistant, paid from operating resources, over a total (cumulated) period of more than 12 months.

• As a (non-)EEA national, meet the conditions for obtaining a valid permit for VUB and comply with the VUB residence requirements. More info here.

The VUB wants to be a reflection of the society where everyone's talent is valued, regardless of gender, age, religion, skin color, migration background, disability and neurodiversity.

4 - Offer

Are you going to be our new colleague?

You’ll be offered a full-time PhD-scholarship, for 12 months (extendable up to max. 48 months, on condition of the positive evaluation of the PhD activities), with planned starting date 15/11/2025. 

You’ll receive a grant linked to one of the scales set by the government.

IMPORTANT: The effective result of the doctorate scholarship is subject to the condition precedent of your enrolment as a doctorate student at the university.

At the VUB, you’re guaranteed an open, involved and diverse workplace where you are offered opportunities to (further) build on your career.

As well as this, you will also enjoy various other benefits:

• Extensive homeworking options, a telework allowance of 50 euros per month OR an internet fee of 20 euros per month;
• An open and informal working environment where attention is paid to work-life balance, and exceptional holiday arrangements with 35 days of leave (based on a fulltime contract), closure between Christmas and New Year and 3 extra leave days;
• Cost-free hospitalisation insurance;
• Full reimbursement of your home-to-work commute with public transport according to VUB-policy, and/or compensation if you come by bike; 
• A wide selection of meals in our campus restaurants at attractive prices;
• Excellent and affordable facilities for sport and exercise, a range of discounts via Benefits@Work (in  all kinds of shops, on flights, in petrol stations, amusement parks...) and Ecocheques; 
• Nursery near campus, discount on holiday camps; 
• The space to form your job content and to continuously learn through our VUB learning platforms and training courses;
• And finally: great colleagues with a healthy drive.

5 - Interested?

Is this the job you’ve been dreaming of?

Then apply, at the latest on 01/11/2025, via jobs.vub.be, and upload the following documents:

• your CV;
• your motivation letter;
• your diploma (not applicable for VUB alumni).

Our application process is as follows (subject to change):

• step 1: an initial selection based on your application file; 
• step 2: a job interview.

Do you have questions about the job content? Contact Prof. Jean-François Argacha at jean-françois.argacha@uzbrussel.be or on +32 2 477 60 09.

Would you like to know what it’s like to work at the VUB? Go to jobs.vub.be, and find all there is to know about our campuses, benefits, strategic goals and your future colleagues.

Would you like more information about EUTOPIA? Go to eutopia-university.eu, and read more about the role of the VUB in the development of the EUTOPIA alliance.