The Digital Medicine group (dMed) is looking for candidates for an interdisciplinary PhD position in social sciences with a strong focus on societal aspects of innovative digital health technologies and digital-supported healthcare services. dMed – headed by the FNR-PEARL Chair Prof. Dr. med. Jochen Klucken – focuses on shaping the digital transformation of medicine and innovating personalized digital medical devices and related digital supported healthcare solutions. The dMed group is closely working together with Prof. Anja Leist (Institute for Research on Socio-Economic Inequality at the University of Luxembourg) and Prof. Marc Suhrcke from the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research on a Long-Covid associated project with the goal to increase patient engagement and to support healthcare management.
The successful candidate will work in the Digital Medicine Group at the LIH and closely collaborate with the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) at the University of Luxembourg, and the Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg (CHL). The candidate will support innovative and interdisciplinary research activities in Luxembourg in the domain of digital medicine, which aim to bring digitaly-enabled healthcare to the general public. The candidate will help design digital health services, evaluate their value for patients and the public, and contribute to shaping their implementation in the clinical and public health contexts.
We are seeking a highly motivated PhD Candidate (m/f/d) to actively contribute to the evaluation of the acceptability and impact of new digital healthcare solutions on citizens and on society for Long-Covid syndrome (and related diseases such as, Parkinson’s Disease, and Dementia). Here, the implementation of digital tools and services requires a profound understanding of the needs of patients, as well as of their integrated healthcare provider network. A patient portal should be generated to empower patients and to support the clinical workup between different hospitals/healthcare providers in Luxembourg. More specifically, the candidate will actively contribute to the collection of the requirements for digital healthcare solutions from patients and healthcare providers. The candidate will be responsible for designing and deploying suitable research models and methods from the social sciences (e.g. sociology, psychology, economics) in order to engage patients (concept development), empower patients by increasing their health literacy, autonomy and their shared decision making. Additionally, the candidate is expected to help coordinate cross-institutional research collaborations, acting as a point of contact between dMed and collaboration partners. Finally, the candidate will be involved in the interdisciplinary effort aimed at developing an evaluation framework for digital healthcare solutions, which will encompass psychosocial, economic and clinical aspects of translational research in digital medicine.
KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES
- Conduct highly innovative research across the domains of social determinants of health and digital healthcare services
- Help identify key requirements for the design of digital tools aimed at enabling patients and healthcare providers to make informed medical decisions
- Using qualitative and quantitative social science methods, develop attitudinal surveys to evaluate the value of new digital health solutions to patients and the public at large
- Conduct qualitative and quantitative studies, which may include focus group discussions, interviews, and questionnaires, in order to gain insights into the preferences for and attitudes towards new digital health solutions
- Actively participate in the joint development activities of dMed to establish an evaluation framework for integrated and digital supported care, covering psychosocial, economic, and clinical aspects
- Publish research results and present them at international conferences
- Contribute to reports and research publications
- Engage in dissemination of results to stakeholders
- Write a cumulative PhD thesis
KEY SKILLS, EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS
- Master’s degree (MSc or equivalent) in social sciences, or a related field, with a strong interest in digital medicine
- Knowledge of research methods in Social Sciences (qualitative and quantitative empirical research, study design, questionnaire design, and data analysis) or related fields of medical process management
- Fluency in English (written and oral) is mandatory
- Passionate about health care innovation
- Excellent communication and collaborative skills to work in a highly multi-disciplinary environment
- Highly committed, ability to work independently, and with attention to detail
- Desirable
- Previous experience in patient and/or healthcare provider communication
- Previous experience conducting attitudinal studies (e.g. surveys, interviews, focus groups)
- Familiarity with user interface/user experience (UI/UX) methods
- Good programming skills in Python or R
- Fluency in German and/or in French would be an asset
IN SHORT…
- Contract type: 3-year fixed-term contract (extendable)
- Work hours: Full time
- Location: Strassen
- Start date: Asap
- Ref: VD/PhDSSDM0522/JK/dMed
HOW TO APPLY
Applications including a cover letter indicating your motivation for the project, relevant experience and future interests; a curriculum vitae, a copy of diplomas and the transcripts of the results should be sent through our website via the apply button below.
Please apply ONLINE formally through this web page.
Applications by email will not be considered.