Mechanistic studies of the impact of chronic pain on brain, behaviour and cognition in rat models of osteoarthritis

Applications are invited for a 4-year PhD studentship within the Arthritis Research UK Pain Centre at the University of Nottingham.

The Arthritis Research UK Pain Centre was created at The University of Nottingham in 2010 to investigate the mechanisms that lead to the chronic pain experienced by people with arthritis, and to improve the treatment of arthritis pain. Following the recent renewal of the Centre for a further 5 years we are now recruiting new PhD students to join our vibrant research community.
This studentship will be directed jointly by a supervisory team of established pain researchers (Dr Gareth Hathway and Prof Victoria Chapman) and a behavioural neuroscientist (Dr Tobias Bast) and will use established clinically relevant models of osteoarthritis to investigate how chronic pain affects cortico-limbic brain areas (including hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, amygdala and nucleus accumbens) and the behavioural and cognitive functions mediated by these brain areas. Experimental techniques will include behavioural and cognitive testing, in vivo electrophysiology and ex vivo analysis of markers of brain structure and function. Full training will be provided. The supervisory team has a strong track-record in PhD supervision, the successful candidate will be part of our Centre for Doctoral Training in Musculoskeletal Health and Pain in Ageing and Wellbeing, which will provide both generic and specific training skills relevant to this project.