Interpretable machine learning for onco- and neurological applications

Interpretable machine learning for onco- and neurological applications

Will you enhance the uptake of complex prediction models for medical applications?

Project

Prediction models are a cornerstone of clinical care as they enable (early) diagnosis of disease or personalized treatment. Machine learning (ML) methods hold the promise to improve upon classical models, but for these to be useful in clinical practice they need to be tailored to (small n) medical settings. Moreover, ML prediction models need to be complemented with interpretability tools, and allow uncertainty quantification. This project contributes to these aims by applying learners that can incorporate external information, and by developing dedicated interpretability tools that allow to assess and infer the importance of (groups of) features and their interactions. As many of the applications have a genomics component, an extra challenge will be to deal with high-dimensional (p > n) data. The project entails methodological development, balanced with implementation and applications in the onco- and neurological field. You will have access to high-quality clinical data from our collaborators.

About your role

Your main role is to develop and implement methods to quantify and test feature importance for machine learned predictions. You will use available tools for including external information to optimize performance of these learners. In addition, you will critically apply and test these methods to onco- and neurological data sets in collaboration with medical researchers. Results will be published in both methodological and biomedical journals. Finally, you are expected to play an active role in the ADORE research community, in particular the Biocomputational Focus group.

About you

• You hold an MSc in Statistics, Mathematics, AI, or a closely related discipline;
• You have a strong interest in medical applications;
• You have a background in quantitative modeling enabling the development of new computational methods;
• You have strong programming skills, preferably in R / Python;
• You are able to explain complex ideas to non-specialists;
• Knowledge of ML techniques, in particular tree- and regression-based ones is a pre;
• You have good communication skills (written/oral) in English;
• You are self-disciplined and can work in a multi-disciplinary environment.

Our offer

• A flying start to your career in scientific research.
• Plenty of room for your drive to shape tomorrow's healthcare.
• Working on large-scale and in-house research, with motivated colleagues from all over the world.
• You will be employed by Amsterdam UMC Research BV.
• A contract for 12 months, with the intention to extend for a total of 4 years. The Guideline PhD contract applies to this vacancy.
• Salary scale OIO: € 3.017 to € 3.824 gross based on full-time employment (depending on education and experience) and a year-end bonus of 8.3%. From July 1st, 2025, there will be a salary increase of 3%.
• Holiday hours: 190,4 per year for fulltime and a possibility to save additional hours.
• Pension accrual with BeFrank, a modern, comprehensible and fairly priced pension.
• For >7 km each way, 100% reimbursement for public transport travel costs and, for private transport, €0.18 per km up to a maximum of 40 km each way.
• Do you prefer walking or cycling? Take advantage of our good bike scheme. Moreover, you will receive a reimbursement of €0.18 per km.

About your workplace

At Amsterdam UMC you will be working in the Big Statistics section of the Department of Epidemiology and Data Science. This section has a strong tradition in tailoring novel methods to medical purposes, and applying these solutions to Amsterdam UMC data. Key research lines include (1) statistical omics, studying statistical methods for big p problems (e.g. gene, protein, metabolite data), (2) machine learning in the medical domain and (3) causal inference.

You are also part of the ADORE Biocomputational Focus group, which unites Amsterdam UMC biocomputational researchers who develop and apply computational methods relevant to onco- and neurological applications.

Amsterdam UMC Research BV supports non-profit scientific research. In doing so, we provide researchers with everything they need to excel. Our principal investigators (PIs) and project leaders offer support in the field of project management, finance and human resources. In medical scientific research projects, legal support is also provided.

Amsterdam UMC has an open culture. This means that we hope that everyone feels welcome in our organization and that we strive to offer equal opportunities to everyone. We therefore cordially invite all interested parties to respond to this vacancy.

Let’s meet! During the publication period, applications will be handled continuously. If the vacancy is filled, it will be closed prematurely.

If you have any questions about this position, please feel free to contact prof. Mark van de Wiel, via mark.vdwiel@amsterdamumc.nl.

A reference check, screening and hiring test may be part of the procedure. If you join us, we ask you for a VOG (Certificate of Good Conduct).

Internal candidates will be given priority over external candidates in case of equal suitability.