PhD in Health Technology Assessment

Expenditures on oncology drugs are sharply rising due to the introduction of many new/innovative drugs and high drug prices. There are doubts about whether these treatments and associated costs always benefit patients and healthcare systems. An important question is whether an HTA lifecycle approach could contribute to better decision-making and more controlled and efficient/affordable access to and use of oncology drugs. This would fit with a national wish to focus more on lifecycle HTA for insured care to contribute to appropriate care.

Your job

You will be on the frontline of developing a lifecycle HTA approach to oncology drugs. Your work will focus on:

• creating an international complete overview of HTA reports of all EMA-approved oncology drugs between 1995 and 2024 with a focus on those assessed by ZIN and/or used in Dutch clinical practice;
• assessing the value of HTA lifecycle elements such as horizon scanning and scientific advice in critically selecting oncology drugs for which issues with effectiveness, costs, budget impact and clinical trial design can be expected;
• teaching (10%) in related courses in the Bachelor's and Master's programmes Pharmacy

Your PhD position is part of the Academic Research Network HTA, a collaboration between the National Health Care Institute (Zorginstituut Nederland (ZIN)), Erasmus University Rotterdam, and Utrecht University. The Network aims to closely bridge HTA research and HTA policy by supporting specific HTA research projects closely linked to policy questions. That means that you will work closely with other PhDs in this network and structurally interact with the HTA policy officers at ZIN. Moreover, your work will entail close collaboration with different stakeholders such as patients, clinicians and health technology developers on a national and international level.

Your qualities

We are looking for a candidate who meets the following criteria:

• a MSc in pharmaceutical or (bio)medical sciences, health economics and/or health technology assessment, epidemiology, or other relevant field;
• good communication skills in Dutch and English, both oral and written;
• the ability and enthusiasm to learn quantitative and qualitative methods within Health Technology Assessment and an interest in cross-disciplinary work within Health Technology Assessment;
• the ability to work independently, be self-reflective, and take initiative and responsibility for your projects.

We consider it a plus if you have experience with:

• complex health systems (i.e. international health policies);
• data analyses: qualitative (e.g. NVivo) and/or quantitative (e.g. R, SAS, or SPSS);
• working with different types of stakeholders, such as health technology developers, clinicians, and healthcare decision-makers from public institutes or governments;
• working in a dynamic environment on multiple projects simultaneously;
• teaching and supervising students within the pharmaceutical policy domain.

Our offer

We offer:

• a position for four years;
• a fulltime working week and a gross monthly salary between €2,901 and €3,707 in the case of full-time employment (salary scale P under the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU));
• 8% holiday pay and 8.3% year-end bonus;
• a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave and flexible terms of employment based on the CAO NU.