Research Assistant in Travel Medicine

More than 500 staff members at the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) contribute every day to improving the health of millions of people worldwide. Our researchers conduct more than 100 scientific projects in the fields of tropical medicine and international health. Our teaching staff welcomes professionals from around the world each academic year to attend our highly regarded medical courses. Tens of thousands of travel and STI consultations take place in our clinic each year, and our internationally recognized reference laboratories examine many hundreds of thousands of samples.

There is only one way we can accomplish these very diverse tasks: thanks to a great passion for our mission.

The Department of Clinical Sciences strives for optimal diagnosis, treatment and prevention of tropical and globalized infectious diseases. The department has long-standing well-recognised expertise in working with both in tropical lower-resource settings and in the conduct of clinical trials of treatments, vaccines, and diagnostics, supported by the ITM Clinical Trials Center.

The medical services of ITM with more than 24.000 travelers a year, is a national reference center for travel-related infectious and tropical diseases. Our ITM team works in close relationship with the Infectious Diseases Unit of the University Hospital of Antwerp and governmental organisations (Sciensano, Defense, FAMHP,…).

The newly established Research Unit Travel Medicine (RUTM) focusses on surveillance, observational and interventional studies, with a primary emphasis on vaccine clinical trials in travelers, within a broad national and international network.

Your role

·       You plan and organize your own activities in line with the research plan. You support the conduct of scientific research projects (e.g. vaccine clinical trials, observational studies and app-based surveys) in the field of travel medicine.

·       You help in developing competitive grant proposals for research funding (GeoSentinel, Defense, Horizon, KCE, EDCTP, and others).

·       You give scientific input, help with protocol development and manuscript writing.

·       You analyse, report and publish scientific results.

·       You reinforce and assist the Research Unit Travel Medicine in their expertise activities of scientific and societal service delivery.

·       You build and maintain the network of internal and external contacts relevant to the unit.

·       You keep up to date with evolutions in the field of travel medicine and vaccinology.

·       You contribute to teaching in short courses in the field of travel medicine.

·       You report to the Head of the Travel Medicine Research Unit, Prof. Dr. P. Soentjens.

Your profile

·       You are a medical doctor. You are recognised and registered to practise as a medical doctor in the European Union.

·       An additional MSc in epidemiology is a valuable asset.

·       You have clinical and research experience in the field of vaccinology and travel medicine.

·       You have good conceptual, analytical and scientific writing skills.

·       You can use statistical software packages like Stata, SPSS or R.

·       You have a good knowledge of English.

·       You are a team player and have good communication skills.

·       You are quality-driven, service-minded and result-orientated.

The Institute of Tropical Medicine is an open and international campus where staff, students and researchers work on the new international health challenges. We strive for excellence, integrity, specificity and efficiency. Your assignment contributes to our mission. We value human dignity and diversity, academic creativity and a critical spirit, solidarity and cooperation, and the well-being of employees, students, patients and clients. Together we ensure a pleasant working atmosphere with attention to work-life balance and opportunities for training. We offer you:

·       A full-time (part-time till 50%  is negotiable) for 1 year.

·       Starting date as soon as possible. Therefore, you hold a valid work permit to work in the European Union.

·       A pleasant working atmosphere with attention to individual growth and development and a strong focus on collaboration and interaction.

·       A workplace in the middle of the vibrant city of Antwerp, easily accessible by public transport.

·       A salary package depending on your profile and professional experience, and supplementary benefits, such as private pension scheme, meal voucher subscription and reimbursement of transport.

·       Structural telework is possible for this position. Teleworking is only possible in Belgium, not from abroad.