PhD Position: Just and Trustworthy Foundation Models for Rheumatic Heart Disease Detection
This PhD position at KU Leuven focuses on developing just and trustworthy foundation models (FMs) for the detection and staging of rheumatic heart disease (RHD), with a strong emphasis on social justice in AI for healthcare. The doctoral candidate will enroll in the Arenberg Doctoral School and join the eMedia research lab under the supervision of Prof. Bart Vanrumste, within the Department of Electrical Engineering (ESAT). The research aims to develop, test, validate, and valorise decolonized, fair, and reliable FMs and an FM-based application for community-based RHD screening and staging. Key objectives include analyzing technical gaps in implementing social justice in healthcare AI, identifying requirements for just FM-based solutions, developing data collection workflows using handheld echocardiography and phonocardiography (PCG), curating a large-scale database of heart sound and echocardiogram data, and creating scalable FMs to help clinicians detect and mitigate biases in RHD screening. The project also involves developing and piloting an application for RHD screening and staging, with potential adaptation for other cardiovascular diseases and contributions to technical standardization. Expected outcomes include a curated dataset, a validated FM for RHD, and an application usable by nurses or community health workers in real-world settings. The position offers planned secondments at the University of Cape Town (South Africa) and Emory University (USA), providing international research exposure. The employment duration is 48 months starting September 1, 2026, with a gross monthly salary of €4,010, plus mobility and family allowances as per Marie Skłodowska-Curie rules. Applicants must have a master's degree in a relevant field, strong academic performance, programming experience (especially in Python and deep learning), and be willing to participate in community-based data collection and international research stays. The application process requires submission of a Europass CV, academic CV, motivation letter, references, degree certificate, proof of language proficiency, identification, and a Declaration of Honour, all in English and via the specified online system. KU Leuven is committed to diversity, inclusion, and equal opportunity, and encourages applications from all backgrounds.
