Anne Smits

KU Leuven is offering a PhD position in neonatal clinical pharmacology focused on drug exposure-response modelling in critically ill neonates. This project is part of a research line in developmental pharmacology and is carried out in collaboration between the Department of Development and Regeneration, the Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of University Hospitals Leuven. The aim is to improve understanding of how commonly used medicines affect critically ill newborns by combining real-world neonatal datasets, advanced bedside neuro-monitoring, and modern pharmacometric methods. The research will concentrate on neuroactive and analgesic/sedative drugs including doxapram, fentanyl, and dexmedetomidine. The successful candidate will analyze pharmacokinetic and clinical datasets, integrate drug concentrations with pharmacodynamic endpoints and cerebral monitoring data, and develop population PKPD and/or physiologically based PK-PD models. The work is intended to characterize exposure-response relationships and support better evidence-based dosing in neonates. The PhD candidate will join an interdisciplinary environment involving clinicians, pharmacologists, pharmacometricians, and engineers. Activities include literature review on developmental cerebral pharmacodynamics, model development and evaluation, scientific writing, conference presentations, and publication in peer-reviewed journals. The project also includes support for writing an FWO PhD fellowship proposal. Applicants should hold a relevant master’s degree in fields such as Pharmaceutical Sciences, Biomedical Sciences, Medicine, Drug Development, Bioengineering, Statistics, or Applied Mathematics. A strong interest in clinical pharmacology, pharmacometrics, translational research, and quantitative modelling is essential. Experience with PK, PKPD, PBPK, NONMEM, Monolix, Simcyp, nlmixr, R, MATLAB, or Python is considered an advantage. The position is a four-year PhD at KU Leuven, with an evaluation after the first year. The trajectory is expected to start at the end of October 2026. KU Leuven highlights access to unique neonatal datasets, advanced monitoring infrastructure, training in pharmacometrics and neonatal research, and an internationally recognized multidisciplinary research setting in Leuven, Belgium.