The Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences wishes to expand their research with a position in Pharmacoepidemiology.
Pharmaco-epidemiology is the study of the use and effects of medicines in large populations, combining principles of pharmacology with methods of epidemiology. It aims to evaluate drug safety, effectiveness, and utilization in real-world settings, supporting
evidence-based clinical and regulatory decision-making. The candidate will develop and lead an internationally competitive research program in this domain, with a focus on observational studies, real-world data, and methodological innovation. The candidate will serve as a
methodological and domain expert, supporting cross-disciplinary projects e.g. pharmacovigilance, health data science, …. Interdisciplinary
collaboration within the Department and Group of Biomedical Sciences, including the University Hospitals Leuven is encouraged.
The candidate will be embedded in the Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy unit. The research of this unit covers the broad field of clinical pharmacology and pharmacotherapy and focuses on the efficient and safe use of medicines. The research ranges from first-inman
studies in healthy volunteers and clearly defined patient populations to post-marketing research in specific (patient) populations such as the critically ill, children, pregnant women, cancer patients and the elderly. In addition to clinical research, the unit also includes research on regulatory topics, the design of clinical studies, regulatory and legal aspects of drug development, intellectual property law and healtheconomic aspects of medicines.
The unit has an extensive international network, and works closely with other departments and (inter) national universities, the government and the pharmaceutical industry. The unit has a stable pool of talented doctoral students and offers a supportive working environment.
Website unit
Duties
Research
- You will conduct scientific research in the broad field of pharmaco-epidemiology
- You will attract competitive funding and build (inter)national collaborations
- You will supervise and encourage Master students, PhD students and postdoctoral researchers.
- You will serve as a methodological and domain expert within the department, supporting cross-disciplinary projects
- You will publish the results obtained in high-impact journals
- You will actively collaborate with colleagues from the research unit, the Department, other Departments, the University Hospitals Leuven, and you establish an international network of research excellence
- You will contribute to the further development and visibility of the Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy Unit through your expertise
Teaching
- Your teaching assignment will include both lectures and other assignments (tutorials, interactive workshops, supervision internship programs, etc.), especially within the Master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Care, such as Social Pharmacy, Pharmacotherapy, ....
- This can also include teaching duties for other programs of the Biomedical Sciences Group.
- You will contribute to the educational project of the faculties and university by supervising Master theses and as a promoter of doctoral students and to curriculum innovation.
- You will develop your education in accordance with KU Leuven's vision through activating and research-based education and you make use of the opportunities for educational professionalization offered by the faculties and the university.
Service
- You will take responsibility in management tasks of the Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences and the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and in scientific and/or social communities.
- If desired, you will provide your expertise to professional organizations and to specific consultative bodies, for example with the government. You can engage with regulatory agencies, health authorities, or industry stakeholders to translate pharmacoepidemiologic findings into policy or practice.
- You promote knowledge transfer, public communication, and intersectoral partnerships (e.g. with health insurers, hospital networks, national pharmaco-vigilance centers).
Profile
- You have a degree as Master and obtained a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Medicine, Biomedical Sciences, Biostatistics or other closely related.
- You combine excellent pharmacological and pharmacotherapeutic knowledge with strong statistical and clinical reasoning skills.
- You have postdoctoral experience within the broad field of pharmaco-epidemiology, biostatistics, pharmacotherapy or applied pharmacology upon appointment.
- You have excellent research output and strong educational competencies in order to contribute to the research output of the Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy unit, the Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences and to thequality of the training of pharmacists and/or medical doctors.
- The quality of your research appears from high-impact first and / or last author publications in leading international journals.
- International experience is a plus.
- You have organizational skills and you are a team player. You also have managerial capacities.
- You manage secondary data use, ensuring compliance with data privacy regulations and research standards while fostering collaboration with third parties.
- You have a plan to collaborate or integrate with larger epidemiological databases
- You are experienced in machine learning models to interpret complex data types
- The official administrative language used at KU Leuven is Dutch. If you do not speak Dutch (or do not speak it well) at the start of
- employment, KU Leuven will provide language training to enable you to take part in meetings.
- Mastery of the Dutch language at CEFR level C1 is required at the start of employment, in order to be able to teach in Dutch immediately. Before teaching courses in English, you will be given the opportunity to learn English to the required standard.
Offer
- We are offering full-time (100%) employment in an intellectually challenging, internationally-oriented state-of-the-art research environment.
- KU Leuven is a research-intensive, internationally oriented University which carries out both fundamental and applied scientific research. It is highly inter- and multidisciplinary focused and strives for international excellence. In this regard, it actively works together with research partners in Belgium and abroad. It provides its students with an academic education based on high-quality scientific research.
- You will work in Leuven, a historic, dynamic and lively city located in the heart of Belgium, within 20 minutes from Brussels, the capital of the European Union, and less than two hours from Paris, London and Amsterdam.
- Depending on your record and qualifications, you will be appointed to or tenured in one of the grades of the senior academic staff: assistant professor, associate professor, professor or full professor. In principle, junior researchers are appointed as assistant professor on the tenure track for a period of 5 years; after this period and a positive evaluation, they are permanently appointed (or tenured) as an associate professor.
- KU Leuven is well set to welcome foreign professors and their family and provides practical support with regard to immigration & administration, housing, childcare, learning Dutch, partner career coaching, …
- To facilitate scientific onboarding and accelerate research in the first phase a starting grant of 110.000 euro is offered to new professors appointed for at least 50%.
Interested?
You are being encouraged to get in contact with the chair of the search committee Prof. dr. Isabel Spriet, mail: [email protected]. tel. +32 (0)16 34 30 80, mail: [email protected] or with the chair of the department Prof. dr. Pieter Annaert, tel. +32 33 03 03, mail: [email protected]. For problems with online applying, please contact [email protected].
KU Leuven strives for an inclusive, respectful and socially safe environment. We embrace diversity among individuals and groups as an asset. Open dialogue and differences in perspective are essential for an ambitious research and educational environment. In our commitment to equal opportunity, we recognize the consequences of historical inequalities. We do not accept any form of discrimination based on, but not limited to, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, age, ethnic or national background, skin colour, religious and philosophical diversity, neurodivergence, employment disability, health, or socioeconomic status. For questions about accessibility or support offered, we are happy to assist you at this email address.
