Identification of the pathological changes that affect neural activity in motor neurone disease

Motor neurone disease (MND) is a devastating incurable neurodegenerative disorder affecting the motor nerves. The pathological changes in MND that involve glia cells affect the composition of ion channels in neurons in the primary motor cortex and the spinal cord. In this project you will first collect data from healthy and patient-derived astrocyte and neuron co-cultures, e.g. by performing patch clamp recordings on motor neurons. Next, you will compare these recordings with computational models of healthy and pathological neurons, and identify which changes in the ion channel composition may explain the experimental data. The expected outcome is a description of the neural mechanism by which pathological changes in MND affect neural activity. This will help to develop novel treatment strategies preventing pathological neural activity and associated motor symptoms in MND.

Entry Requirements
Candidates must have a first or upper second class honors degree or significant research experience. Candidates should have experience in experimental lab work and/or computational modelling of neural activity.

Enquiries
Interested candidates should in the first instance contact Robert Schmidt (0114 222 6501, [Email Address Removed])

How to apply
Please complete a University Postgraduate Research Application form available here: www.shef.ac.uk/postgraduate/research/apply

Please clearly state the prospective main supervisor in the respective box and select (department name) as the department.