Federated and interpretable clinical AI for earlier
diagnosis of inborn errors of immunity The Infection and Immunity
in Paediatric Patients Research Group at the Vall d'Hebron Research
Institute (VHIR), Barcelona, is seeking an outstanding postdoctoral
researcher interested in developing competitive applications for
the next Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships (MSCA-PF).
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions – Postdoctoral Fellowships (MSCA-PF)
The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships (MSCA-PF) are
part of the Horizon Europe programme and support postdoctoral
researchers in developing an original research and innovation
project through international mobility. The programme aims to
strengthen researchers’ careers through excellent science,
international collaboration and interdisciplinary experience, while
fostering integration in both academic and non-academic
environments. The MSCA-PF call is highly competitive and represents
an excellent opportunity to attract international talent and
support researchers in consolidating their scientific careers
through an ambitious mobility-based fellowship. The 2026 call
closes on 09/09/2026 (17:00 Brussels time). For candidates applying
to a European Postdoctoral Fellowship, the fellowship duration is
from 12 to 24 months . Full eligibility details: MSCA Postdoctoral
Fellowships 2026 Background Inborn errors of immunity (IEI) are
rare, heterogeneous diseases in which diagnostic delay remains
clinically relevant. Current referral pathways often depend on
recognition by highly specialised clinicians or tertiary
registries, which are accurate but difficult to scale and may
amplify inequities in access to expert centres. At the same time,
primary care and hospital electronic health records contain
longitudinal signal: recurrent infections, bronchiectasis,
cytopenia’s, autoimmunity, growth impairment, immunoglobulin
patterns and other coded or laboratory features, that can be
transformed into computable phenotypes. The host group has
developed PIDCAP, an expert-derived EHR-integrated scoring system
for early identification of IEI in primary care, and is expanding
this work through ontology mapping, AI-enabled clinical decision
support, calculated globulin/hypogammaglobulinaemia detection, and
federated learning collaborations. The proposed MSCA project will
build on this platform to create generalisable, transparent and
privacy-preserving methods for earlier detection of rare immune
disorders in real-world health systems. Objective Develop and
validate interoperable EHR phenotypes and clinical features for
early suspicion of IEI, combining expert knowledge, ICD/laboratory
data and ontology mapping. Design interpretable prediction and
risk-stratification models that can be calibrated for different
clinical settings while minimising alert fatigue. Implement a
privacy-preserving validation strategy, including federated or
distributed analytics, to assess transportability across centres or
regions. Evaluate clinical workflow integration,



fairness and
potential impact on referral pathways from primary care to
specialised immunology units. The Group The Vall d’Hebron Research
Institute Infection and Immunity in Paediatric Patients group
focuses on improving the understanding, diagnosis and management of
congenital errors of immunity in children. Its research combines
clinical immunology, genomics, translational immunology, advanced
immune monitoring and data science to support earlier and more
precise diagnosis and personalised care. The group is closely
linked to a highly specialised clinical unit at Vall d’Hebron
University Hospital and collaborates with national and
international networks in primary immunodeficiencies, rare
diseases, artificial intelligence and clinical data
interoperability. In parallel, the group integrates artificial
intelligence tools to analyse complex clinical and biological
datasets, identify predictive biomarkers and optimise diagnostic
workflows. In the last year, the group reported 48 publications,
72.9% in Q1 journals, 140 citations, 12 ongoing projects and 16
active clinical trials, reflecting strong translational and
collaborative activity. Main responsibilities and duties: Work
closely with clinical immunologists, data scientists and health
informatics teams, including the DS3 group and primary care
collaborators in Catalonia. Statistical learning, federated
analytics, clinical NLP, ontology-driven feature engineering, or
implementation science. The fellow will have access to an active
clinical research environment, real-world EHR use cases,
international scientific networks in IEI and AI, and opportunities
to contribute to European collaborations on interoperability,
privacy-preserving data analysis and learning health systems.
Methodological publications, validated reusable code or data
models, and a roadmap for clinically safe deployment of IEI
screening tools. Education and qualifications: Required: Applicants
must hold a PhD degree or have successfully defended their thesis
before the call deadline (09/09/2026) Applicants must comply with
the mobility rule, meaning they must not have resided or carried
out their main activity (work/studies) in the host country for more
than 12 months during the 36 months prior to the call deadline.
Fluency in English (spoken and written) Desirable: Background in
rare diseases, immunology, clinical epidemiology, digital health,
real-world data, health informatics or implementation science
Experience and knowledge: Required: Applicants must have a maximum
of 8 years of postdoctoral research experience by the call
deadline.



This means candidates are generally eligible if they
obtained their PhD on or after 10/09/2018 (possible extensions may
apply, e.g. parental leave or long-term illness). Strong
quantitative skills Experience with R or Python Reproducible data
analysis § Statistical modelling or machine learning Capacity to
work with multidisciplinary clinical and technical teams Desirable:
Experience with EHR data, ICD/SNOMED/ORPHA/HPO/OMOP or openEHR/FHIR
standards, federated learning or privacy-preserving analytics, NLP,
explainable AI, clinical decision support evaluation, or research
software engineering. Working conditions, remuneration, contract
type and start date will be established according to the applicable
MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship conditions and VHIR regulations. What
can we offer? Incorporation into the Vall d’Hebron Research
Institute (VHIR) , a public sector institution that promotes and
develops biomedical research, innovation and teaching at Vall
d’Hebron University Hospital (HUVH), the largest hospital in
Barcelona and the largest within the Catalan Institute of Health
(ICS) . A dynamic scientific environment of excellence , where
cutting-edge biomedical projects are continuously developed.
Continuous learning and career development pathways . Healthy
offering– “Feel Good, Feel VHIR” : VHIR’s wellbeing programme
offers a variety of activities to help staff thrive—physically,
mentally, and socially. Through four pillars—Feel Well, Feel
Connected, Feel Empowered, Feel Welcomed—it fosters health, growth,
and community. International mobility support (Welcome Services) :
we aim to make your arrival in Barcelona smooth and pleasant by
providing city information, guidance on required procedures, access
to the International Welcome Desk, family support and assistance
with finding accommodation. Deadline to apply: 31-07-2026 VHIR
embraces Equality and Diversity. As reflected in our values we work
toward ensuring inclusion and equal opportunity in recruitment,
hiring, training, and management for all staff within the
organisation, regardless of gender, civil status, family status,
sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, religion, age,
functional diversity or ethnicity. Information on Personal Data
Protection: Data Controller: Fundació Hospital Universitari Vall
d’Hebron Institut de Recerca -VHIR-. Purpose: Personnel selection.
Legal Basis: Your consent. Data retention period: One year. If you
are selected, as long as the employment relationship is in force
and legal responsibilities may arise. Data sharing: Does not occur,
except for communications necessary to fulfill the purpose and
those required by law to public and private bodies. Rights: You can
access, rectify, delete, object to, and limit the processing of
data, as well as request data portability where applicable, by
contacting [email protected] . DPO: [email protected] . More
information can be found here . Data Protection Authority:
APDCAT

📌 VHIR-MSCA-.015_Postdoctoral Fellowship (Infection andImmunity in Paediatric Patients) (Cataluña)
🏢 VHIR
📍 Cataluña