Postdoc in Advanced Ultrasound Imaging of Brain Tumors in patients

Job description

Brain tumors remain amongst the deadliest types of cancer, with treatment often consisting of primary surgical resection followed up by chemoradiation.

To this day, neurosurgeons, neurologists and neuroradiologists struggle to accurately monitor the regrowth of brain tumors after surgical resection. At the BrainEcho Lab, our multidisciplinary team of physicists, engineers, clinical technologists and neurosurgeons has dedicated nearly a decade to high-level ultrafast ultrasound research, developing new ultrasound-based tools to make brain tumor resections safer and more effective.

In our latest project, OncoVue, we aim to extend our advanced ultrasound imaging beyond the operating room by developing ultrafast ultrasound through sonolucent cranioplasties (skull implants) as a new method for monitoring brain tumor regrowth. 

Your daily tasks and responsibilities will revolve around pushing ultrafast ultrasound further from lab to bedside and will ask both hardcore technical as well as communication skills. Responsibilities include:

• Developing a computational ultrasound imaging pipeline allowing for tumor monitoring through cranioplasties.
• Creating dedicated ultrasound image acquisition and signal processing software.
• Building a dedicated advanced ultrasound image acquisition system for outpatient clinic use.
• Contributing to inpatient measurements in close collaboration with our clinicians.

Work environment

You will be a key member of the OncoVue project team, led by Dr. Sadaf Soloukey (Neurosurgeon in training) and Dr. Pieter Kruizinga (Imaging Physicist, PI of the BrainEcho Lab).

Within the lab, a team of master students, PhDs, Postdocs and Assistant Professors work towards one single goal: understanding the brain better with ultrasound. Our application has always been very clinically focused, with a strong link to our clinical partners in the Department of Neurosurgery, Neurology and Radiology. Most of our work so far has focused on intraoperative application of ultrafast ultrasound (functional Ultrasound, fUSi) during awake brain surgery. In our newest projects we aim to push the technique outside of the operating room using sonolucent skull implants.

You will be working a vibrant and multidisciplinary environment based in the Department of Neuroscience, with highly skilled individuals with a big interest in using technology for the advancement of patient care. All members of our team are hard-working, disciplined but social scientists, who believe in teamwork, open communication and collaboration. 

The Department of Neuroscience at Erasmus MC is a historically large group with many different sublabs looking at topics ranging from extremely fundamental to highly applied clinical work. The Department itself is tight-knit, hosting a range of scientific and social events on a monthly basis, including a weekly department-wide lab talk. 

Qualifications and skills

You are strongly encouraged to apply if you meet the following criteria:

• Strong technical background in (ultrasound) signal processing or ultrasound imaging. Ideally you hold a PhD in a subject concerning (applied) ultrasound imaging. The latter is not a requirement.
• Broad experience with software languages including MATLAB and Python. Experience in C++ and/or CUDA would be beneficial.
• Experience working in a multidisciplinary environment.
• Scientific and technical rigor, to get to the bottom of the technical challenges in this project, for which the applicant will be the primarily responsible team member.
• A flexible attitude, that allows for quick adaptation to the ever-changing clinical context of our patients.
• Organizational skills, to manage the project’s timeline and all the different parties involved.
• Fluent in English. Dutch language skills are nice to have but not required.

Before you apply please check our conditions for employment.

Terms of employment

• You will receive a temporary position for 3-4 years. 
• The gross monthly salary amounts a minimum of € 3.598,- and a maximum of € 5.669,- (scale 10).
• Excellent fringe benefits, such as a 13th month that is already paid out in November and a individual travel expense package. 
• An International Office which aids you in preparing for you arrival and stay. 
• Pension insurance with ABP. We take care of approximately 2/3 of the monthly contribution. 
• Special benefits, such as an incompany physiotherapist and bicycle repairer. And there is also a gym where you can work on your fitness after work. 

More information

Make this job your next career move! Apply now using the application button. It all starts with taking action. 

Do you have questions about the role? Feel free to reach out to Dr. Sadaf Soloukey, PI Onco Vue Project, +31 (0)6 521 253 72.

No agencies please.