Job in Utrecht/Leuven: PhD positions (2x 100%)

Two PhD positions

For the EU funded project Improving life expectancy | LifeLUNG, we are looking for two doctoral candidates that will investigate social and ethical aspects related to ex vivo gene therapy on lungs, especially those related to first-in-human trials, and anticipate the ethical aspects related to implementation in clinical practice.

The first doctoral candidate (DC13), focusing on lung donors will perform an ethical-legal analysis of the opt-out systems within Eurotransplant countries, and then conduct a cross-sectional survey to investigate the acceptability of genetic lung modification among prospective and living lung donors. Follow-up qualitative research will be performed with living lung donors in the Netherlands (30-40 interviews, prospective and those who have already donated), using interpretive qualitative methods. Finally, DC13 will perform an ethical conceptual analysis on the moral status of the genetically modified lung and consider the role of human enhancement in the context of genetic lung modification. (DC13 Project Description – WP4 | LifeLUNG) This PhD project is based at UMC Utrecht (The Netherlands). Main supervisor: Rieke van der Graaf.

The second doctoral candidate (DC14), focusing on lung recipients, will use interpretive qualitative methods to develop an empirical and theoretical assessment of the experiences, beliefs, values and expectations of key stakeholders on genetic lung modification and expectations around improved quality of life, also perceived risks will be identified. DC14 will consider issues around informed consent, especially at the stage of clinical trials where not all risks may yet be fully known. Also, attitudes towards genetic modification as an experimental therapy will be investigated, which are relevant for recruitment in clinical trials (synergy DC15) as well as how societal attitudes may affect eventual clinical implementation. This research will involve open-ended semi-structured qualitative interviews, with patients (lung disease) and with healthcare professionals including transplant coordinators, transplantation physicians and nurses. Special attention will be given to reduce network homogeneity by using multiple entry points, which allows to generate a more balanced set of research participants. (DC14 Project Description – WP4 | LifeLUNG) This PhD project is based at KU Leuven (Belgium). Main supervisor: Pascal Borry.

In the same Work Package, two other researchers are working on the health economics aspects (DC12 Project Description – WP4 | LifeLUNG) and translational research aspects (DC15 Project Description – WP4 | LifeLUNG)

Type of Contract: Temporary
Job Status: Full-time
Hours Per Week: 40

Application deadline: September 28^th 2025