Epidemiological study to quantify risks for paediatric computerized tomography and to optimise doses

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Start in : First trimester 2021

Duration : 18 month

Workplace : Fontenay-aux-Roses, France

In the frame of the European EPICT project (http://epi-ct.iarc.fr/), aiming to study the radiation associated risk of cancer after exposure to Computed Tomography (CT) during childhood, a pooled cohort of 9 national cohorts has been built, including around 1 million patients.

One major issue of the project is to deal with potential bias obscuring the relationship between radiation exposure and cancer outcomes.

In the frame of the postdoctoral position, the work will be dedicated to take into account competing risks, i.e. other cancer types and non-cancer death, in the estimation of the dose response relationship between exposure to CT and cancer occurrence in this pediatric population exposed to CT. The studied events will be CNS cancer and leukemia, which are the most frequently observed cancers in the cohort. Depending on the number of occurrences of the other types of cancer, other anatomical localizations may be studied. Several methods will be tested.

Applicants should have a PhD in Epidemiology or Biostatistics and good programming skills in SAS, and/or R. Having a previous experience in the field of radiology or oncology would be an asset.

The selected candidate will work in close collaboration with the coordinator of the French CT cohort (French IRSN epidemiologist; in Fontenay aux Roses, France) and European scientists with expertise in radiation epidemiology.  The candidate should be able to work independently while efficiently interacting and collaborating in an interdiciplinary team, and should be able to communicate in English and French.

The position includes leading statistical analysis and manuscript writing in collaboration with the research team. The selected candidate will be encouraged to present the findings at scientific conferences.