PhD studentship in Applied Mental Health Research: Investigating the role of neuroinflammation in conversion disorder

The Department of Health Sciences, University of York, is inviting applications for a fully funded PhD studentship, available on a full-time basis to start in October 2019 or January 2020, on a collaborative research project between the Mental Health and Addiction Research Group (MHARG) and the Hull York Medical School (HYMS).

The successful candidate will be part of the Mental Health and Addiction Research Group (MHARG) research team, and will be supervised by Professor Christina van der Feltz-Cornelis (MHARG), and by Dr Dimitris Lagos (HYMS and York Biomedical Research Institute).

Project details
This PhD studentship will be embedded in the Conversion and Neuro-inflammation Disorder Observational (CANDO) study, which aims to address whether neuroinflammation plays a role in conversion disorder, also known as functional neurological disorder.

Conversion disorder represents an unmet clinical need. It is one of the medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) that can present itself as e.g. unexplained paralysis. It affects 764,000 people in the UK annually and leads to long-term distress, disability and utilization of health care services; its origin is unknown, hence treatment has limited effects.

The PhD student will work with this unique patient cohort to explore links between neurological function and systemic inflammation using statistical and quantitative and qualitative research methods. The findings of this work will contribute to development of novel clinical management regimes for conversion regimes.

Candidates with an interest in applied health research and cohort studies are particularly encouraged to apply.

Key words: Conversion disorder, functional neurological disorder, neuroinflammation, mental health, trauma, stress, epidemiology, patient studies.