Contexte 

In the frame of the European MEDIRAD project (http://www.medirad-project.eu/), the EARLY-HEART study was launched in order to investigate early cardiovascular changes after breast cancer radiation therapy.

The EARLY-HEART study is a multicentre prospective cohort study that included 250 breast cancer patients treated with radiotherapy (RT) in one of the 5 investigating centres (France, Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Portugal). Inclusion period lasted from August 2017 to October 2019.

Each patient is followed from baseline before RT to 6 months and 2 years after RT. At each visit, echocardiography, computed tomography coronary angiography, cardiac magnetic resonance Imaging are performed.

Missions / Contenu du poste

The objectives of the project are to identify and validate the most important cardiac imaging biomarkers (based on echocardiography, computed tomography coronary angiography, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging) and circulating plasma biomarkers of radiation-induced cardiovascular changes arising in the first 2 years after breast cancer radiotherapy and to develop risk/prediction models integrating these biomarkers combined with dose metrics of cardiac structures based on 3D dosimetry.

• In the frame of the postdoctoral position, work will be focused on the analysis of echocardiographic parameters (first step: analysis of the evolution between baseline and RT+6 months measurements; second step: analysis combining baseline, RT+6 months and RT+24 months measurements). In particular the longitudinal strain measurements (based on 2D-strain speckle tracking echocardiography) for early detection of subclinical left ventricular dysfunction will be analyzed, combined with cardiac dosimetry (including doses for whole heart, left ventricle and coronary arteries).

Compétences requises / profil attendu

Applicants should have a PhD in Epidemiology or Biostatistics (PhD obtained less than 4 years ago (>2017)) and good programming skills in SAS, Stata and/or R. Having a previous experience in the field of cardiology and or radiation oncology would be an asset.

The selected candidate will work in close collaboration with the coordinator of the project (French IRSN epidemiologist; in Toulouse) and European scientists with expertise in clinical epidemiology, cardiac imaging and radiation oncology. The candidate should be able to work independently while efficiently interacting and collaborating in an interdiciplinary team, and should be able to communicate in English and French.

The position includes leading statistical analysis and manuscript writing in collaboration with the research team. The selected candidate will be encouraged to present the findings at scientific conferences.

Pour candidater, envoyer CV et lettre de motivation à Sophie Jacob, , +33(0)5 61 14 56 08;