PhD Position in Systems Integration for Clinical AI

Why do so many promising AI applications have yet to be integrated into the patients' clinical care or doctors' workflows?

Unlocking the power of clinical algorithms and their usefulness requires thorough clinical evaluation and integration into the clinical workflow, but how?

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) methods has made the healthcare sector curious about improving decision support tools. New data-driven methods may aid decision-making in all subsequent steps of patient care. The hype around AI triggers hope, with the rise of available electronic health record data, and the increase in computational power. AI can be used in all aspects of healthcare; from faster diagnosis, improving prognostics or gaining insights to improve efficient use of resources. However, many AI applications have not yet made it to clinical practice. 

You’ll be working in the Responsible and Ethical Artificial Intelligence for Healthcare Lab (REAHL, an ICAI Lab), a multidisciplinary research group with clinicians, data engineers, and ethicists from the Erasmus Medical Center (Datahub), Delft University of Technology and SAS Institute. Together, we aim to make data-driven solutions for clinical decision support, which are ultimately applicable and scalable to improve patient care. 

This PhD position focuses on systems integration of AI clinical decision support systems (AI-CDS). You will work with real clinical use cases and bridge the gap between AI technology and healthcare systems. Improving systems integration for AI in healthcare can eventually help inform clinicians and patients in the shared decision making process, improve patient outcomes and the efficiency of healthcare. Your research may cover one or both of the following topics:

• Integration of AI-CDS into the clinical workflow; only a few (<2%) of the developed and validated clinical algorithms make it to integration in clinical practice. There is a need for evaluation of AI-CDS in healthcare systems, and you are encouraged to conduct studies evaluating the impact of AI-CDS in the clinical workflow taking into account the role of multiple stakeholders (i.e. physicians, patients, policymakers, payors etc.). For example by comparing a physician’s assessment versus AI-CDS and thereby assessing the safety and efficacy of these tools.
• Integration of AI-CDS within the hospital information systems; the sensitivity of patient data and lack of interoperability between medical data sources limits data availability and data sharing. This makes it challenging to have algorithms validated – a necessary step before moving to integration. Algorithms generally require the use of stand-alone tools that can be time-consuming and cumbersome to use. Incorporating these algorithms into the electronic health record will therefore be critical for unlocking these algorithms’ potential. You will explore solutions for improving clinical information extraction and exchange. 

Your research will provide valuable insights for the development of a guideline for safe and effective AI integration in healthcare systems. Examples of clinical use cases are: efficient use of intensive care unit bed availability, guide shared-decision making who to operate or not, or when it is safe to discharge a patient after surgical intervention.     

We are looking for a candidate with a master degree (or about to finish their degree) in systems engineering, artificial intelligence, (technical) medicine, medical informatics, bioinformatics, or a related field. 

In addition, you have:

• Understanding of the design of engineering systems or data science, and have interest to build bridges within the dynamic sociotechnical healthcare system;
• A team oriented attitude, and strong communication and collaboration skills;
• The ability, willingness, and commitment to do autonomous work in a multidisciplinary team that includes clinicians (and medical students), data scientists, engineers and ethicists;
• Proficiency in written and verbal English communication;
• Command of the Dutch language, or a willingness to learn Dutch. 

If the vacancy appeals to you but you are doubting whether you fulfill the requirements, please apply.      

Doing a PhD at TU Delft requires English proficiency at a certain level to ensure that the candidate is able to communicate and interact well, participate in English-taught Doctoral Education courses, and write scientific articles and a final thesis. For more details please check the Graduate Schools Admission Requirements .

Doctoral candidates will be offered a 4-year period of employment in principle, but in the form of 2 employment contracts. An initial 1,5 year contract with an official go/no go progress assessment within 15 months. Followed by an additional contract for the remaining 2,5 years assuming everything goes well and performance requirements are met.

Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, increasing from € 2541 per month in the first year to € 3247 in the fourth year. As a PhD candidate you will be enrolled in the TU Delft Graduate School. The TU Delft Graduate School provides an inspiring research environment with an excellent team of supervisors, academic staff and a mentor. The Doctoral Education Programme is aimed at developing your transferable, discipline-related and research skills.

The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, discounts on health insurance and sport memberships, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged.

For international applicants, TU Delft has the Coming to Delft Service . This service provides information for new international employees to help you prepare the relocation and to settle in the Netherlands. The Coming to Delft Service offers a Dual Career Programme  for partners and they organise events to expand your (social) network.

Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers, both in business and in a social context.

The Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management (TPM) at TU Delft contributes to sustainable solutions for technological challenges in society by combining the insights from engineering with the humanities and the social sciences. The PhD student will be positioned in the Engineering Systems and Services (ESS) department. The core activity of the department is to model, understand, forecast, and shape emerging technological innovations and user patterns in the increasingly interconnected sectors of health, energy, industry, mobility and ICT; and use these insights for improved design, regulation and operation of such engineering systems. ESS aims to contribute to the scholarly debate at the highest international level, and is rooted in both engineering and social sciences.

The position will be in co-supervision with Dr.Ir. Mark de Reuver and will be filled within the Department of Engineering Systems and Services, section Information and Communication Technology at the Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management. You will also be part of the growing community within the Institute for Health Systems Science within TPM, focused on applying systems thinking in health(care) systems.  

At TU Delft we embrace diversity as one of our core values  and we actively engage  to be a university where you feel at home and can flourish. We value different perspectives and qualities. We believe this makes our work more innovative, the TU Delft community more vibrant and the world more just. Together, we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale. That is why we invite you to apply. Your application will receive fair consideration.

Challenge. Change. Impact!

The Faculty of TPM provides an important contribution to solving complex technical-social issues, such as energy transition, mobility, digitalisation, water management and (cyber) security. TPM does this with its excellent education and research at the intersection of technology, society and policy. We combine insights from both engineering and social sciences as well as the humanities. TPM develops robust models and designs, is internationally oriented and has an extensive network of knowledge institutions, companies, social organisations and governments.

Click here  to go to the website of the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management.

For more information about this vacancy, please contact Jacobien Oosterhoff MD, e-mail: [email protected] (do not send your application to this email address)

For information about the application procedure, please contact Olivie Beek, HR advisor, e-mail: [email protected]

Are you interested in this vacancy? Please apply before 1 July 2023 via the application button and upload: 

•    Motivation letter (max 1 page),
•    A short CV (max 2 pages), including a list of publications.
•    An example of academic writing, paper, essay or part of your thesis.

Please note:
•    You can only apply online. We will not process applications sent by email and / or post.
•    Incomplete applications will not be processed.
•    A pre-Employment screening can be part of the selection procedure.
•    Acquisition in response to this vacancy is not appreciated.