Job Information
As a PhD Candidate for the ‘Micronutrients during post-ICU recovery’ project at Gelderse Vallei Hospital and Wageningen University, you will pursue a PhD as a fully funded PhD candidate and contribute to understanding on the role of micronutrient optimization during recovery from critical illness.
You will be part of a larger ongoing international Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network project on biomarkers and micronutrients during critical illness that will develop strategies for micronutrient personal medicine in ICU patients (BIO-MICRO). You will lead a multidisciplinary research project aiming to assess micronutrient status in ICU and post-ICU patients and investigate the association with recovery across physical, cognitive, and psychological domains during recovery from critical illness.
What will you do
Title of the project (research fellowship 11): Micronutrient and electrolyte levels in post-ICU patients throughout recovery from critical illness
Duration: 36 months (with a possibility for 48 months)
Supervisor(s): Prof dr A.R.H van Zanten, Prof M Niewenhuis, Dr IWK Kouw, Dr K Koekkoek
Enrolment in a Doctoral Program: Wageningen University & Research
Project description:
Around 60% of ICU-survivors experience long-term complications, collectively known as post-intensive care syndrome (PICS). PICS encompasses a range of new or worsening physical, cognitive, and mental health impairments following critical illness. These impairments have major societal and economic impacts, necessitating increased rehabilitation care and nursing home admissions and resulting in 50% of patients being unable to return to work within six months post-ICU stay. Nutritional intake in patients post-ICU discharge is poor, due to difficulties in reaching nutrition goals during the transition to oral intake and multifactorial nutrition-impacting symptoms affecting food intake. Currently, there is no information on how nutritional status and micronutrient deficiencies contribute to PICS. Given the insufficient nutritional intake and the lack of routine micronutrient prescriptions, patients likely have a deficient micronutrient body status at various points during, but also after ICU stay and recovery.
This project is embedded in the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions–funded BIO-MICRO project, with a broader aim to achieve personalised micronutrient therapy in critical illness. This PhD position focusses on the role of micronutrient status and the relation with PICS during recovery from critical illness. The project addresses key knowledge gaps on functional micronutrient status and its association with patient-related outcomes across all PICS domains.
You will initiate and coordinate, among other activities, a large-scale prospective cohort study in ICU and post-ICU patients to assess the role of micronutrient levels and PICS during and after critical illness. This study will provide valuable insights into the dynamics of micronutrients, the occurrence of micronutrient deficiencies, and electrolyte levels and deficiencies in post-ICU patients.
Your main tasks and responsibilities in this project are:
- Perform a systematic review on micronutrient status in ICU survivors.
- Coordinate and conduct inclusion of a large-scale observational prospective study assessing micronutrient levels and recovery across the PICS domains during ICU stay, post-ICU recovery, and up to 12 weeks after discharge.
- Apply advanced methodologies to assess micronutrient levels, nutritional status, functional recovery, cognitive function, psychological functioning, and quality of life in post-ICU patients.
- Collect, interpret, analyze, and report clinical research data.
- Prepare scientific outputs and actively contribute to BIO-MICRO network meetings, workshops and secondments.
- Initiate follow-up studies aimed at micronutrient optimization and PICS outcomes during recovery from critical illness.
- Contribute to and support other ongoing clinical studies within the research group.
What do we expect
You are versatile, self-motivated, detail-oriented, and capable of working well in an interdisciplinary team. You have a ‘hands-on’ mentality and have excellent organization and communication skills. You are interested in performing metabolic research in an acute clinical setting under the principles of Good Clinical Practise and have the skills to organize and execute high-standard physiology clinical trials. You are eager to contribute to innovative research in critical care, nutrition, rehabiliation, and metabolism and work well in a clinical environment and multidisciplinary team. The research project should result in a PhD thesis.
To be eligible for this position, applicants must meet the Marie Skłodowska-Curie admission requirements:
- You must not already hold a doctoral degree.
- You must comply with the MSCA mobility rule: you must not have resided in or carried out your main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the Netherlands for more than 12 months during the three years immediately prior to recruitment.
In addition, you meet the following requirements and experience:
- A successfully completed MSc degree in nutrition, health, clinical medicine, biomedical research, or any other degree which you see relevant for the position on offer.
- Excellent writing and oral communication skills in English; proficiency in Dutch is an advantage
- Excellent organization skills, independent working and hands-on mentality
- Excellent communication skills in a highly versatile clinical environment
- Enthusiastic in setting up multidisciplinary collaborations
- Experience with clinical or laboratory research and data analysis is an advantage
- Social skills to initiate dissemination strategies for patient follow-up and implementation in patient societies
- Good presentation and teaching skills, you are motivated to educate and supervise students and research staff
Your working environment
You will be based at the Intensive Care Department of Ziekenhuis Gelderse Vallei in Ede, the Netherlands. You will be embedded within the Intensive Care Medicine Research Group at the hospital. You will be appointed as an external PhD candidate within the VLAG Graduate School at Wageningen University & Research, Department of Human Nutrition and Health, Chair Group Nutritional Biology. You will work in a collaborative environment that brings together intensivists, nurses, dietitians, rehabilitation specialists and researchers, closely linked to the broader BIO‑MICRO network of academic ICUs, nutrition scientists, and analytical laboratories. Your day-to-day supervision will be provided by Imre Kouw (Assistant Professor, Wageningen University & Research), under the mentorship of Arthur van Zanten, internist-intensivist, Head of the Intensive Care and Research Department and Professor of Nutrition and Metabolic Stress at Wageningen University & Research and Ziekenhuis Gelderse Vallei. External supervision in this project comes from partners at Martini Hospital in Groningen.
A secondment is planned at Wageningen University, with a duration of 12 months. The secondment will focus on the analysis of changes in micronutrient levels throughout recovery from the ICU and the execution of a clinical study on micronutrient status in healthy volunteers. The candidate will contribute to sample analysis at the laboratory facilities of Human Nutrition and Health at Wageningen University & Research. Applicable analyses methods will be trained under supervision and executed.
Nutrition plays a crucial role in illness and recovery. At Ziekenhuis Gelderse Vallei, nutrition, physical activity, and sleep are the core building blocks of our healthcare approach. These pillars are fully integrated into our daily clinical practice. We conduct extensive scientific research, and the results are directly incorporated into patient care. This enables our patients to receive more effective treatments, recover more quickly, and experience improved well-being.
The Intensive Care department at our hospital places a strong emphasis on nutrition in the treatment of critically ill patients. We are widely recognized as the “Nutrition Hospital of the Netherlands.” The ICU at Ziekenhuis Gelderse Vallei has national and international recognition in applied nutrition science, research, and education related to the themes of nutrition, physical activity, and sleep.
Working at our hospital in Ede means no two days are the same. We provide safe care based on the latest scientific knowledge and continuously strive to deliver high-quality, well-organized, and patient-centered healthcare. Collaboration with patients and healthcare partners within our network is central to achieving better health outcomes. We focus not only on treating disease but also on prevention and improving quality of life.
What we offer
This PhD position is funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) of the European Union’s Europe 2024 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 101226686. You will be appointed as externally funded fulltime PhD student for 3 years (possibly 4 years) at Wageningen University & Research.
Salary scale: Market competitive based on a 36 hours week, depending on qualifications and experience. Successful candidates will receive an attractive base-salary in accordance with the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, for 36 months (possibly 48 months). The exact (net) salary depends on the EU-defined country correction factor, and on local tax regulations (for additional information see EU MSCA website). Exact salary will be confirmed upon appointment.
Doctoral candidates will receive a living allowance of €4010/month (correction factor to be applied per country, and local employer’s contribution and tax regulations). They will also benefit from a monthly mobility allowance of €710. In addition, a family monthly allowance of €660 (if applicable) is on offer to fellows with a spouse &/or child/children. Successful applicants are eligible for parental leave in compliance with the Dutch legislature.
In addition to your local PhD training, you will participate in a comprehensive and attractive educational programme specifically designed for the 13 Research Fellows within the BIO-MICRO consortium. The BIO-MICRO training programme offers a blended learning approach that combines monthly interactive live online sessions (60–90 minutes) with in-person workshops. The online curriculum covers essential topics in clinical research, including epidemiology, biostatistics, observational and clinical trial design, statistical computing, and scientific writing. In addition, four intensive three-day in-person workshops are dedicated to the development of both academic and transferable skills. In addition, all fellows will carry out 12 months of secondments and will be enabled to participate in relevant international scientific conferences. Together, this structured training programme is designed to optimally prepare you for a successful academic, clinical, industry or policy career in the fields of clinical nutrition and critical care.
If you don’t have the nationality of an EU/EEA country or Switzerland, you will need a residence permit to live and work in The Netherlands.
How to apply
Follow the link to apply for this position: https://www.werkenbijgeldersevallei.nl/vacatures/vacature/3620405
