Astrid Janssens

This PhD project at UMC Utrecht focuses on person-centred care and technological innovation in brain diagnostics, with a specific emphasis on bringing MRI closer to the patient and into primary care. The project is part of the consortium initiative Brain Matters and the broader Reimagine Imaging programme, which aims to redesign how people are referred, guided, and supported through the imaging pathway. The PhD student will work on the development of a largely automated MRI set-up in which patients, together with a relative or close one, can complete the scan after referral. A key part of the research is the co-creation of user-friendly care and referral pathways for different patient groups, with special attention to dementia. The project also explores virtual guidance before and during scanning, communication support for referring clinicians, and software that can assist with image quality and analysis. The work is highly collaborative and brings together clinicians, patients, citizens, general practitioners, geriatric specialists, imaging researchers, and technology partners. The student will help coordinate this multi-partner environment, contribute to the design of individual studies, recruit participants, collect and analyse data, and present findings in academic and public settings. Research methods will combine qualitative and quantitative approaches, including co-design, focus groups, interviews, questionnaires, pilot studies, and feasibility testing. The position is embedded in the Bioethics and Health Humanities section of the Julius Center at UMC Utrecht, within the research line on patient and public participation. The group works on themes at the intersection of bioethics, public involvement, medical communication, narrative medicine, medical history, and health law, and the PhD trajectory is supervised within this environment. There is also close cooperation with imaging researchers at UMC Utrecht and external consortium partners, including private-sector and international collaborators. The project is designed to improve the organisation and experience of MRI-based diagnosis in primary care and to support earlier, closer-to-home diagnosis for people with possible cognitive decline or dementia.