Apr 10, 2008

Post-Doctoral Fellowship: Modelling of Cardiovascular Safety - Leiden University, The Netherlands

Post-Doctoral Fellowship
Modelling of Cardiovascular Safety (full time)
Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

Job description

TOP Institute Pharma (TI Pharma) has granted ourproposal to set up a mechanism-based PKPD modelling platform. This platformfocuses on the transfer of knowledge from academia to the pharmaceuticalindus try and is a collaborative effort of four excellent academic institutes andsix leading global pharmaceutical industries. Unique to this platform is theavailability of shared databases on disease and drug related parameters.

The aim ofthe platform is to provide a scientific basis for rational drug discovery anddevelopment with a strong focus on priority medicines. In total 11 PhD students and 7 post-doctoralfellow s are employed by the platform. Three working groups have been establishedwhich will address the following challenges 1) to develop mechanism-based PKPDmodels to characterise disease progression, 2) to predict the effects of ageingon clinical response and 3) to create a translational research framework thatallows extrapolation of preclinical to clinical and epidemiological findings.The approach is based on hierarchical models and relies on the use of advanced statisticalsoftware tools such as NONMEM, WINBUGS and R.

To ensure thedevelopment of a conceptual research framework beyond the specific scientificquestions being addressed by the working groups and enable cross-fertilisation ofskills, a position has been created for a
post doctoral fellow. The main objective of this program is toevaluate how cardiovascular safety findings in phase IIIclinical trials correlate to long term safety in longitudinal (epidemiology) studies. From a methodological perspective, this investigation is aimed atevaluating new parameterisations for drug exposure and integration of PKPDconcepts into the assessment of risk.

Requirements

The post-doctoralfellow should have the following background and competencies:
·
Astrong background in statistical modelling & simulation and/or Bayesianstatistics
·
Adegree in Biostatistics, Epidemiology, Medicine, Biopharmaceutical Sciences, Physiology orequivalent scientific training
·
Birdeyes¢ view
·
Conceptual thinker
·
Problem-solvingand coaching skills are essential
·
Ambitious
·
Creative
·
Interested to perform research in a unique multidisciplinary setting

Organisation

The Leiden Division ofPharmacology at the Leiden/Amsterdam Center for Drug Research (LACDR) has along-standing expertise in the development of Pharmacokinetic/ Pharmacodynamic( PKPD) models to predict efficacy and safety of drugs. Given the nature of thisproject, the main task of the principal post-doctoral fellow will be to coachthe PhD students and postdocs within the platform, to support model buildingand simulation and to identify underlying general principles shared amongindividual projects.

Conditions of employment

The employment for this position will be full time for 4 years.

Additional conditions of employment:
You will workas a team member of a TI Pharma project. The project team comprises academicand industrial partners. In this case, the partners are: University of Leiden,University of Groningen,the University Medical Center of Utrecht, the ErasmusMedical Center,Rotterdam and thecompanies Eli Lilly, Johnson &
Johnson, GSK, Nycomed, Organon/Schering Plough and Pfizer. You willattend a unique drug discovery education and training program offered by TIPharma.

Additional Information

Additional information can be obtained through one of
the following links:
http://www.lacdr. nl
Application

You can apply by sending your application to:
Contact person
Dr. O. Della Pasqua
Division of Pharmacology, Leiden/Amsterdam Center forDrug Research
Leiden, TheNetherlands
Odp72514@gsk. com
+44 7876031907

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