PhD Researcher – Decolonized AI Ethics for Healthcare

About the role

The Doctoral School of Biomedical Sciences at KU Leuven invites a motivated researcher to join a cutting‑edge project that builds a decolonized ethics and governance framework for trustworthy AI in healthcare. The PhD candidate will work on a scalable care pathway that integrates foundation‑model (FM) based technology for screening and staging Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD) using handheld echocardiography and phonocardiography.

Key responsibilities

• Analyse clinical gaps and social‑justice obstacles that affect AI implementation for RHD.
• Co‑create clinical requirements for a just, robust care pathway embedding FM‑based solutions.
• Develop and validate data‑collection methods using handheld echocardiograms and PCG devices.
• Fine‑tune foundation models and compare their performance against gold‑standard diagnostics.
• Design and pilot a sustainable, scalable care pathway usable by nurses or community health workers.
• Assess transferability of the FM‑based solution to other cardiovascular diseases and contribute to clinical standardisation.

Required profile

• Master’s degree in biomedical engineering, medical physics, computer science, or a related field.
• Strong interest in AI ethics, health equity, and cardiovascular imaging.
• Ability to work in an interdisciplinary, international research environment.
• Excellent communication skills for co‑creation with clinicians and community stakeholders.

Required skills

• Handheld echocardiography
• Phonocardiography (PCG)
• Foundation model AI development and fine‑tuning
• Cardiac MRI acquisition and analysis
• Myocardial strain analysis
• Shear wave elastography

What we offer

• Embedding in the Doctoral School of Biomedical Sciences with structured training (research integrity, transferable skills workshops, journal clubs).
• Access to high‑end core facilities, including 4D ultra‑high‑frame‑rate echocardiography and cardiac MRI.
• Mentorship by Prof. Jens Uwe Voigt, a leading expert in quantitative cardiovascular imaging.
• Opportunities for international secondments at the University of Cape Town, PCF (USA), and other partner institutions.
• A supportive environment for publishing and presenting research outcomes.