Effects of neurological damage to the brain and neurosurgical interventions on dyspnoea perception

Competitive three year full time studentship in the Department of Biological and Medical Sciences


Research title : Effects of neurological damage to the brain and neurosurgical interventions on dyspnoea perception


Main Supervisor Dr Shakeeb Moosavi



Eligibility:Only open to UK/EU applicants (who must be permanently resident in UK/EU)

Start date: 19th September 2016

Bursary: £14057 pa for academic year 2016/17 & fees

Closing date: 21st February 2016

Applicants should be of the highest quality and capable of submitting a PhD thesis within 3 years. Requirement a good Honours degree (2.1 or equivalent).

EU applicants must have a valid IELTS Academic test certificate minimum score level 6 in each of the four areas of reading, writing, listening and speaking with overall minimum score 7.0 issued since the 23rd April 2015 by an approved test centre please see web site below. Or an undergraduate degree awarded by a recognised UK university within the last two years.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-applying-for-uk-visa-approved-english-language-tests


Project summary

Breathlessness (‘dyspnoea’) is an unpleasant sense of breathing discomfort, a powerful diagnostic symptom of cardiopulmonary disease that affects the quality of life of millions in the UK. Current options for dyspnoea relief are limited and relatively ineffective compared to the options available for pain relief. A better understanding of physiological mechanisms will help identify new drugs and targets for relief.

Recent advances in this area of research are promising. Functional brain imaging studies have identified areas that are likely to be important for perceiving dyspnoea, reliable assessment techniques have been developed and experimental models of dyspnoea can now be used to induce specific qualities of clinical dyspnoea in patients and healthy individuals. The current proposal takes advantage of these advances to investigate neurological patients with damage or novel therapeutic interventions that may interfere with the brain mechanisms of breathlessness.. This approach may pave the way for more effective options to alleviate dyspnoea when underlying pathology cannot be cured. Advancing our understanding of the cerebral mechanisms of breathlessness will guide future clinical trials of novel therapeutic options for relief of intractable dyspnoea.

The project will involve non-invasive physiological measurements of cardiorespiratory variables, subjective ratings of ‘air hunger’ and ‘breathing effort’, structural MRI brain scans and experimentally-induced breathlessness in healthy volunteers and in various patient groups (including neurological patients with cerebral ischaemic stroke, insular glioma or undergoing deep brain stimulation). Collaboration will be established with neurosurgeons at John Radcliffe Hospital and neurologists and respirologists at Royal berkshire hospital in Reading.

As part of your training you will be required to assist in demonstrating on undergraduate practicals during semesters without further remuneration.

Since the project will involve working with neurological patients, an application will be made for you to receive an honorary contract with the Oxford University Hospital’s NHS Trust which will include a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check. As part of the checking procedure any successful applicant will be asked to produce a current passport
https://www.gov.uk/disclosure-barring-service-check


Further information on the project please contact Dr Shakeeb Moosavi
e-mail address [Email Address Removed]


How to apply

Please complete the Application Form, which you can download from

http://www.hls.brookes.ac.uk/images/research/phd-studentship-application-form-jan-14.doc


With your application please enclose a CV and scanned copy of your degree certificates and transcripts and letter from awarding body plus two signed academic references. Additionally if appropriate a valid IELTS Academic test score certificate.

Please carefully note that applications only accepted by e-mail to the following address:
[Email Address Removed]



YOU MUST NOT SEND ANY QUERIES, APPLICATION, CV OR OTHER DOCUMENTS VIA FINDAPHD