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This PhD opportunity brings together Professor Hazel Screen (QMUL; tendon mechanics), Professor Jeff Bamber (ICR; ultrasound physics) and Dr Dylan Morrissey (Barts & QMUL; clinical physiotherapy) working with state-of-the-art ultrasound imaging tools, to investigate tendon biomechanics in health and disease.
The post has a full scholarship and is for a September / October start. Further details available from Professor Hazel Screen ; E-mail: h.r.c.screen@qmul.ac.uk
To apply for this studentship and for entry on to the Medical Engineering research programme (Full Time, Semester 1 start) please follow the instructions detailed in section 3 of the following webpage:
http://www.qmul.ac.uk/postgraduate/research/subjects/engineering/index.html
A brief project overview below:
Tendons are like ropes of aligned collagen bundles, and in previous studies, we have shown that healthy tendon function requires sliding and recoil between the different collagen bundles making up the whole tendon, during loading. We have shown that sliding is controlled by the matrix connecting those bundles, called interfascicular matrix (IFM), and have some data suggesting that stiffening of the IFM with ageing is primarily responsible for increased injury risk. We now want to measure sliding between collagen bundles in healthy and injured tendons to investigate our hypothesis, and begin looking at ways to help manage and treat tendon injury.
However, taking measures of sliding between tendon sections in vivo is technically very challenging. We have begun developing methods using ultrasound elastography to measure collagen bundle sliding, and have an ongoing project focused on the technical development of these tools. We are now looking for a PhD student to join the team, and work on implementing those methods in people.
Experience of carrying out in vivo whole body biomechanics experiments, analysing mechanics data and working with human subjects is highly desirable for this post.
The post has a full scholarship and is for a September / October start. Further details available from Professor Hazel Screen ; E-mail: h.r.c.screen@qmul.ac.uk
To apply for this studentship and for entry on to the Medical Engineering research programme (Full Time, Semester 1 start) please follow the instructions detailed in section 3 of the following webpage:
http://www.qmul.ac.uk/postgraduate/research/subjects/engineering/index.html
A brief project overview below:
Tendons are like ropes of aligned collagen bundles, and in previous studies, we have shown that healthy tendon function requires sliding and recoil between the different collagen bundles making up the whole tendon, during loading. We have shown that sliding is controlled by the matrix connecting those bundles, called interfascicular matrix (IFM), and have some data suggesting that stiffening of the IFM with ageing is primarily responsible for increased injury risk. We now want to measure sliding between collagen bundles in healthy and injured tendons to investigate our hypothesis, and begin looking at ways to help manage and treat tendon injury.
However, taking measures of sliding between tendon sections in vivo is technically very challenging. We have begun developing methods using ultrasound elastography to measure collagen bundle sliding, and have an ongoing project focused on the technical development of these tools. We are now looking for a PhD student to join the team, and work on implementing those methods in people.
Experience of carrying out in vivo whole body biomechanics experiments, analysing mechanics data and working with human subjects is highly desirable for this post.