Musculo-Skeletal Biomechanics

We currently have a PhD scholarship available to support a brilliant PhD candidate, with a background in mechanical engineering or bioengineering, who will be part of the Integrative Musculo-Skeletal Biomechanics (IMSB) group at the Insigneo Institute for in silico medicine, in Sheffield (UK).

The INSIGNEO Institute for in silico Medicine (http://www.insigneo.org) is an initiative between the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Sheffield and the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust. INSIGNEO intends to realise the scientific ambition behind the Virtual Physiological Human, producing a transformational impact on healthcare. While recently established, INSIGNEO is already considered one of worldwide-leading institutions in the area of in silico medicine research.

Within Insigneo, the IMSB group conducts applied and fundamental research in neuromusculoskeletal biomechanics and tissue engineering, with a specific interest in biological processes that to be properly explained require integration of multiple mechanisms observable at radically different space-time scales. Our long-term vision is to develop integrative computational models of the neuromusculoskeletal system that span from the cell to the whole body, and can be individualised for each patient, in order to make clinically relevant predictions, or for representative populations, to support the design and the pre-clinical assessment of new biomedical products. To the purpose, we also develop in vitro and in vivo experiments, used to verify the predictive accuracy of such computer models.

The project will last three years and will be conducted at the Department of Mechanical Engineering. According to the specific interests and skills of the student, we would be able to offer a project under the supervision of one of the following academics:

• Dr. Claudia Mazzà – Biomechanics of human movement (Organism scale) https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/mecheng/staff/cmazza
• Dr. Xinshan Li – Muscle and bone biomechanics (Organ scale)
https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/mecheng/staff/li
• Prof. Damien Lacroix – Mechanobiology (Cell and tissue-scale biomechanics)
https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/mecheng/staff/dlacroix
• Prof. Marco Viceconti – Joint and bone biomechanics (Organism and organ scale)
https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/mecheng/staff/mviceconti

Information for applicants
If interest in applying, please contact Dr Claudia Mazzà: [Email Address Removed].

An overall IELTS grade of 6.5 with a minimum of 6 in each component, or equivalent, will be required.