C4Bio - Consensus in mechanical characterization of biological tissues

At the Science and Technology Group, Department of Mechanical Engineering, we are looking for a postdoctoral scholar at FIBEr – KU Leuven Core Facility for Biomechanical Experiments.
FIBEr is a core facility dedicated to characterization of mechanical properties (e.g. stiffness, strength and microstructure) of biological tissue, specifically bones, muscles, ligaments, blood vessels, etc., as well as biomedical products, such as implants and biomaterials. Mapping the mechanical properties serves to gain a better understanding of diseases related to altered mechanical properties (e.g. osteoporosis, atherosclerosis, cartilage injury,…), and to support the development of medical products, digital twins and medical treatments. The lab possesses various types of experimental setups & devices, each suitable for testing specific tissues and/or specific properties.
In addition to offering this type of high quality biomechanical testing, FIBEr's mission is to promote its importance and further improve the quality of the methods through research. FIBEr provides these services to industry, academia and policy makers, and has the ambition to become the international reference center for the mechanical testing of biological tissues and medical products. As such, FIBEr is currently leading the C4Bio initiative, a community challenge towards consensus in characterization of biological tissues, launched by the Avicenna Alliance and the VPH Institute.

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Responsibilities

Since 2020, C4Bio has successfully completed a pilot test campaign, specifically aimed at uniaxial tensile testing of porcine aorta. More than 25 research groups worldwide participated in two testing rounds whereby the results showed a disturbingly high amount of inter-research group variability, even for this relatively simple test type and for synthetic materials. This is essential information to take into account when using experimental testdata in in silico simulations.

Therefore, it is now crucial to keep the momentum of the C4Bio initiative going, i.e. to further quantify and reduce this methodological uncertainty & variability, and to perform this analysis on biologically more relevant test methods.

Supported by and in collaboration with the core C4Bio team and the FIBEr team, you will be responsible for the coordination of two new test campaigns with a minimum of 15 participating research groups, specifically on planar biaxial tensile testing of cardiovascular tissue and on unconfined compression testing of cartilage. This coordination involves: launching the call, selection of participants, preparation of test rounds, follow up of results submission (this includes the maintenance of an online data submission tool), data analysis (to quantify variabilities and uncertainties), synthesis of colloquia discussions with all participants, drafting up consensus protocol, and broad dissemination of the results. 

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We are looking for a postdoctoral scholar with:

• A Ph.D. in engineering, preferably in biomedical technology.
• Hands-on experience with mechanical testing techniques such as uniaxial tensile and compressive tests, biaxial tensile tests, etc.
• Comprehensive knowledge of (non-linear) continuum mechanics.
• Experience in data management.
• Experience in project management.
• Fluent English communication, both verbally and in writing.
• Practical mindset.
• Strong problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work well in a team.

Note that this is a vacancy for a postdoctoral scholarship with international mobility. Hence, scholarships can only be awarded to postdoctoral scholarship holders who have not stayed or were engaged in a principal activity (work, studies, etc.) in Belgium for more than 24 months, this counting from the three years prior to the starting date of their position as postdoctoral scholarship holders. Short-term stays (such as holidays, participation in conferences and short stays in preparation for the stay as a postdoctoral scholarship holder) are not taken into account.

Offer

This is a full-time position for two years as a postdoctoral research scholar at KU Leuven. You will be embedded in a dynamic team of researchers at KU Leuven and be able to build a broad international network through the C4Bio initiative. 

KU Leuven offers a wide range of fringe benefits, including hospitalization insurance, free or discounted commuting with public transport, group purchasing advantages, and more. These extra benefits are part of the attractive package that KU Leuven offers to its employees.

Interested?

For more information please contact Prof. dr. ir. Nele Famaey, tel.: +32 16 32 89 80, mail: nele.famaey@kuleuven.be or Dr. ir. Heleen Fehervary, tel.: +32 16 37 92 37, mail: heleen.fehervary@kuleuven.be.

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