Advertisement for External Researcher Recruitment for the Joint Action EUCanScreen

Position: External Researcher for WP5 in EUCanScreen project

Project Duration: Ongoing (2 years remaining)

Evaluation Timeline: April 2026 – March 2028

Project Overview

We are seeking a qualified and experienced external researcher for a Joint Action project focused on Cancer Screening. The project, which began 22 months ago, aims to assure sustainable implementation of high-quality screening for breast, cervical and colorectal cancer, as well as investigate implementation of screening programmes for lung, prostate and stomach cancer. Cancer represents a significant portion of the disease burden in Europe, much of which is preventable. The EUCanScreen project is designed to address this challenge by supporting strategies and policies that aim to reduce the burden of cancer, focusing on both personal and societal risk factors. The Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan has called for a new EU-Supported Cancer Screening Scheme to ensure high performance of cancer screening programmes across all Member States (MS). The general objective of EUCanScreen is to assure sustainable implementation of high-quality screening for breast, cervical and colorectal cancers, as well as implementation of the recently recommended screening programmes – for lung, prostate and gastric cancers. EUCanScreen will facilitate the reduction of cancer burden and achieving equity across the EU.

The senior expert should have a PhD or LLM in law and extensive experience in data protection, health data governance and ELSI aspects of data‑driven health research, with a substantial part of this experience acquired in European collaborative projects in the biomedical field. The expert is expected to be knowledgeable about compliance, responsible data use, and EU and national frameworks in oncology.

Key Responsibilities

Main task: The main task will involve quality assurance and analysis of the legal and ethical framework related to an already conducted cross-European survey. This task requires outstanding legal qualifications, with a particular focus on Spanish law across the Spanish health regions. The task will furthermore involve cross-European data analysis, requiring excellent knowledge of EU health data legislation and plans.

Assessment of data‑driven cancer projects: The expert must demonstrate solid experience in assessing large‑scale health research projects based on cancer data, including federated repositories and multi‑centre or cross‑border infrastructures. This includes designing and applying risk analysis methods, DPIAs and broader data governance assessments that are tailored to cancer use cases (e.g. longitudinal data collections, multi‑modal data integration, secondary use of cancer data). The expert should be able to translate these assessments into recommendations that can be adopted by hospital partners, research centres and industry within the consortium.

ELSI framework for cancer data sharing:  The role requires proven ability to design, implement and monitor ELSI frameworks specifically adapted to cancer screening research and innovation. This includes defining ethical and legal governance arrangements for data acquisition, annotation, sharing and reuse. The expert should be able to communicate with ethics committees, data protection officers and clinical governance bodies as needed, and to provide clear, practical recommendations.

Expertise on European projects and EHDS‑relevant initiatives: The senior expert should have a track record of participation in, or support to, European research and innovation projects in the area of oncology or health data platforms, ideally including roles in ELSI, data governance or regulatory work packages. Experience with pan‑European repositories or federated infrastructures built under EU‑funded initiatives is particularly relevant. The expert should also be familiar with the evolving framework for European data spaces and the European Health Data Space, and able to operationalise concepts such as secure processing environments, data altruism and cross‑border secondary use of imaging data in the context of European projects.

Governmental, institutional and multi‑stakeholder support: The expert is expected to bring experience in advising or supporting public authorities, regulatory bodies or professional societies on issues related to digital health or health data governance. This may involve experience from participation in expert groups or advisory boards at national or European level, as well as contributions to guidelines or model frameworks for the use of health data in research and clinical practice. Experience in accompanying universities, research hospitals and innovation hubs in the implementation of compliance models and governance structures for cancer projects, including training and capacity‑building activities for clinicians, researchers and technical staff, is considered an asset.

Qualifications and Requirements

• Advanced academic qualifications, including a PhD or LLM, in law. As a substantial amount of the legal research will focus on Spain, applicants with a Spanish law degree will be prioritized.
• Experience from large-scale, collaborative EU funded projects (e.g., Horizon Europe, Erasmus+, FP7).
• Proven ability to deliver projects within scope, budget, and timeline constraints.
• Strong record of working with cross-functional, multinational teams, including academics, technologists, and policymakers, ensuring effective communication and project execution.
• Full professional proficiency in English (C2 level), enabling effective communication, reporting, and stakeholder engagement.
• Experience in preparing comprehensive documentation and delivering presentations to diverse audiences.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working in multicultural and multidisciplinary environments.
• Prior involvement in health or medical education projects.

Application Process

Interested candidates should submit the following documents by 20.4.2026:

1. A detailed CV highlighting relevant experience.
2. A cover letter explaining your interest and suitability for the position.
3. Examples of previous evaluation reports or relevant work (if available).

Submission of Application

Please send your application to with the subject line: Application for External Evaluator.

For any inquiries, please contact [Prof. Apostolos Vantarakis, email: ].