PhD position in Digital Health

The Digital & Mobile Health Group is an interdisciplinary research team at the Institute for Implementation Science in Health Care, with close ties to the Digital Society Initiative of the University of Zurich. We are developing methods for next-generation research studies by collecting and analyzing multimodal sensor-, smartphone-, and patient-reported health data for chronic disease research (e.g. Multiple Sclerosis) and public health. We work closely with our stakeholders (e.g. citizens, persons with chronic diseases, and healthcare professionals) to create meaningful evidence for healthcare and prevention. Our group utilizes a broad mix of analysis methods including statistical modeling, machine learning, data analysis, passive sensing with wearable devices and natural language processing.

PhD position in Digital Health

This Ph.D. project is highly interdisciplinary, involving you in the full development cycle of innovative digital solutions for chronic patient care. Your responsibilities will span from conceptualization, development, and evaluation to implementation into routine patient care.
To start, you will work in close collaboration with our team members and our project partners, including the Neurozentrum Bellevue (Bellevue Medical Group) and Klinik Lengg, to support the data collection of our ongoing study in Multiple Sclerosis and long COVID patients. You will analyze fitness tracker and patient-reported data to derive novel digital biomarkers for objective fatigue quantification and disease severity.
In the latter part of the Ph.D., you will participate in designing and conducting a new clinical study. Here, your focus will be on researching how to integrate new digital biomarkers into routine clinical care, creating a set of best practices that consider the needs of all stakeholders involved. Additionally, you will contribute to the user experience design of our smartphone application, ensuring a user-centered approach that considers both patients and healthcare professionals' requirements. This task will involve close collaboration with designers and developers. Furthermore, you will contribute to the maintenance and improvement of our data analysis pipeline, which is programmed in Python.

For this project, we search for a highly motivated person with a Master's Degree (e.g., in Epidemiology, Statistics, Biology, Biomedicine, Medicine, Computer Science, or Psychology) with good knowledge of Python and at least basic knowledge of statistical programming and data wrangling in R, a good command of English and German, good communication skills, and the willingness to actively interact with our stakeholders, including healthcare providers, healthcare professionals, patients, and UX/UI experts.

You will become part of an innovative study group at the intersection of Digital Health and Citizen Science. As a member of our highly interdisciplinary team, you will receive the opportunity to pursue your research independently but with the support of specialists in Data Science, Neurology, UX/UI, Biostatistics, Public Health, or Psychology.

• Our offices are located near the UZH Main Campus / University Hospital.
• A fully-funded 4-year research-focused position.
• Pay rates for PhD candidates are based on the standards set by SNSF.     

Job Position: Liliana Barrios, PhD
PhD Program: Marco Kaufmann, PhD