PhD Position: Prenatal PFAS Exposure and Risk of Congenital Heart Disease Bispebjerg Hospital and Herlev-Gentofte Hospital

We invite applications for a 3-year PhD position examining how prenatal exposure to per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) affects and early cardiac development and risk of congenital heart defects (CHD). The project is a collaboration between the Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Bispebjerg Hospital and the Department of Cardiology at Herlev-Gentofte Hospital.

About the project
The project uses data from the Copenhagen Baby Heart Study (CBHS) and the COMPARE sub-study, including PFAS measurements in cord, neonatal, and parental blood, advanced echocardiography and ECG data, and linkage to national health registries. The project is made possible with grants from Børnehjertefonden, Sven Andersens fond, Skibsredder Per Henriksens fond and Becketfonden. The PhD project consists of three main components:

• Characterizing PFAS levels in newborns and parents, including longitudinal changes postpartum.
• Investigating whether prenatal PFAS exposure is associated with CHD.
• Assessing subtle cardiac structural and functional changes related to PFAS exposure.

• Conducting epidemiological and statistical analyses, including mixture and multi-pollutant models.
• Managing, cleaning, and analyzing large cohort and registry datasets.
• Writing and publishing scientific papers as first author.
• Presenting findings at national and international conferences.
• Participating in PhD courses and academic training.
• Teaching undergrad and grad students in public health and/or medicine.
• Contributing to grant applications.
• Supervising interns and introductory doctors when relevant.
• Contributing to follow-up data collection in CBHS.
• Preparing and submitting a PhD thesis.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in public health or a related field.
• Knowledge of epidemiological study design and causal inference.
• Experience with Danish registry data and administrative databases.
• Experience programming complex statistical models (for example Cox regression or mixture-effect analyses, preferably in R).
• Experience with hands-on cohort data collection.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in an interdisciplinary setting.
• A publication record or manuscripts ready for submission is an advantage.
• Strong communication skills.

Workplace
You will divide your time between two research environments:

• Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Bispebjerg Hospital
  You will join the environmental research group led by Associate Professor Sandra Søgaard Tøttenborg, who will be your primary supervisor. The group works extensively with environmental and reproductive epidemiology, population-based cohort studies, and advanced statistical methods.
• Department of Cardiology, Herlev-Gentofte Hospital
  Your primary co-supervisor will be Clinical Professor Kasper Iversen, supported by Postdoc Giaan Ninh and Professor Henning Bundgaard (Rigshospital). The department provides expertise in congenital heart disease, cardiac imaging, and large-scale cohort research, including Copenhagen Baby Heart Study.

Both institutions offer internationally recognized research environments with strong clinical integration and direct collaboration between researchers and clinicians.

Salary and terms of employment
The position is full-time (37 hours per week) for 3 years. Salary, pension, and employment conditions follow the agreement with the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. The candidate will be enrolled as a PhD student at the University of Copenhagen and employed by the Capital Region of Denmark.

Expected start date: April 1st, 2026
Application deadline: Please submit your application, CV, and list of publications no later than January 29th, 2026 at 8 (CET). Interviews are expected in week 5, 2026.

Further information: Please refer to https://baby-heart.dk/ for more information about the cohort. For questions about the position, please contact Sandra Søgaard Tøttenborg by mail: [email protected]

Application deadline: Apply no later than 29. January 2026

Lokation: Bispebjerg og Frederiksberg Hospital