Environmental causes of childhood and early-onset cancer; CUE

We still don’t know what causes most childhood and early-onset cancers. CUE-CAN, an EU Horizon Cancer Mission project, brings together universities, research institutes and hospitals across Europe to find the environmental exposures behind these cancers, so they can be prevented or detected early.

You’ll join the Molecular Epidemiology and Data Science group at the Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS) of Utrecht University, where Dr. Martijn Kolijn leads the cancer projects. The group is part of the One Health Chemical research line of Prof. Roel Vermeulen, where epidemiologists, exposure scientists and data scientists study how chemicals and other environmental factors affect health. You’ll be based at the Utrecht Science Park.

Within CUE-CAN, the Utrecht team leads the search for new carcinogens. Your focus is on the internal exposome. You'll analyse untargeted liquid and gas chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS and GC-HRMS) data from 4,000 maternal blood samples collected during pregnancy, covering children who later developed leukaemia, lymphoma or tumours of the central nervous system, plus healthy controls. Together, these methods measure around 700 exogenous chemicals, including environmental pollutants such as PFAS, and give a broad picture of endogenous molecules, so you can also study how exposures interact with biological processes in the body.

The HRMS data are generated by others, so your work is the analysis, not the lab. A postdoc in our team maps the external exposome (geospatial, environmental and occupational exposures). You'll work closely with them to connect what you find in blood with what mothers were exposed to.

You will:

• Analyse the LC-HRMS and GC-HRMS data to find chemicals in maternal blood linked to childhood and early-onset cancer;
• Use statistical and machine-learning methods, including mixture models, to identify and validate environmental risk factors;
• Link high-resolution exposure maps (from projects such as EXPANSE and EXPOSOME-NL) to study participants and to large Dutch registry cohorts (CBS, IKNL);
• Combine internal (blood-based) and external (environmental) exposome data to build a fuller picture of how the environment contributes to cancer;
• Work with PhD students and postdocs across CUE‑CAN, including researchers at the Princess Máxima Center who will test your candidate carcinogens in the lab;
• Publish your results and present them at international conferences.

You are a motivated and curious researcher with:

• A Master’s degree in Molecular Biology, Epidemiology, Environmental Health, Data Science, or a related discipline;
• Strong quantitative and analytical skills;
• Experience programming in R, Python or a similar language;
• An interest in environmental health and exposome research;
• Motivation to work in a multidisciplinary and international environment;
• Good communication skills and fluent written and spoken English.

Nice to have, but not required: experience in cancer research, or in analysing metabolomics or proteomics data (ideally mass spectrometry based).

We offer:

• A full-time PhD position (1.0 FTE) for four years: a first contract of one year, extended by three years after a positive evaluation;
• A gross monthly salary from €3,204 in the first year to €4,051 in the fourth year (PhD scale P of the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, CAO NU);
• 8% holiday pay, an 8.3% year-end bonus, and Utrecht University’s employee benefits (pension, parental leave and flexible working);
• PhD training and courses, and the chance to present your work at international conferences and CUE-CAN meetings across Europe;
• A place in an…