About the Project
As a global trend on the rise, between 2001 and 2011 the UK population aged 65 and over increased by 0.92 million while the aged 85 and over increased by almost 25% (from 1.01 million to 1.25 million). Why is it important to consider these statistics?
Firstly, the need for medical treatment and care increases with longevity and, secondly, the ageing process itself results in degradation of physiological functions and biophysical properties of organs and tissues, and more particularly of those of the skin which is the largest organ of the human body.
These facts have important health, social and financial implications, particularly on health care services and governments.
The ageing population, more active than ever, is also rapidly becoming a significant market segment, across many industrial sectors from medical devices through personal care products to sport equipment and consumer electronics. For many of these products the biophysical response of the skin is crucial in terms of comfort, performance and safety. It is therefore essential to engineer products that take into account altered biophysical characteristics of an aged skin (i.e. “inclusive design”) so to optimise their performance. The provision of computational models of skin ageing holds the promise of offering a rational quantitative basis to develop such products whilst also enabling and accelerating innovation, and alleviating the reliance on animal models through a better quantitative understanding of human ageing.
Biologists have a reasonably good qualitative understanding of the general mechanisms of skin ageing but many studies use animal models (e.g. mice) which have very different tissues, physiology and life span to those of humans. It is therefore questionable to extrapolate results from animal studies. What is required is a fundamental and quantitative understanding of human skin ageing by establishing links between its driving factors and its biophysical effects. Although mechanical testing and imaging experiments can probe many aspects of the skin microstructure, making sense of these complex data (i.e. determining their interrelationships) is a formidable and complex task that could significantly benefit from modern machine learning techniques.
In this project, it is proposed:
1. to use machine learning to process data sets from different sources (e.g. 2D and 3D images of skin microstructure, proteomics, macroscopic and microscopic mechanical tests) and detect patterns in the data that characterise the interplay and evolution of microstructural and material properties of the skin during ageing.
This will provide a quantitative and mechanistic understanding of human skin ageing across multiple spatial scales so we could:
2. in particular, establish predictive relationships characterising and explaining how skin thickness is altered with age in terms of evolution of the microstructural and material properties of individual skin layers.
3. establish predictive relationships that link the evolution of elastin and collagen networks microarchitecture in skin with age to apparent macroscopic stiffening of skin.
4. formulate experimentally-based biophysical constitutive models of human skin ageing (implemented in a multiphysics finite element framework) that will be exploited to test hypothesis about ageing and assist the design of physical experiments.
We are looking for an applicant with a background in biomechanics, physics, engineering mechanics or any relevant disciplines with a strong interest and/or skills in combining physical experiments and modelling, and an appetite to independently learn and research across conventional discipline boundaries.
The successful candidate will work in a stimulating research environment, supported by world-leading organisations and will be encouraged to work with our international academic and industrial collaborators in Europe, South Africa and the USA.
Entry requirements: first or upper second-class degree or equivalent.
If you wish to discuss any details of the project informally, please contact Georges Limbert, Email: [Email Address Removed] Tel: +44 (0) 2380 592381
Funding Notes
This project is in competition with others for funding; the projects which receive the best applicants will be awarded a full studentship. This 3 year studentship covers home-rate tuition fees and provides an annual tax-free stipend at the standard EPSRC rate, which is £14,777 for 2018/19.
The funding is only available to UK citizens or EU citizens who have been resident in the UK for at least 3 years prior to the start of the studentship and not mainly for the purpose of receiving full-time education. For further guidance on funding, please contact [Email Address Removed]
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