Research Associate / Senior Research Associate at University of Bristol

Salary:

£37,099 – £41,732 per annum (Grade I) 

£41,732 – £46,974 per annum (Grade J) depending on experience

The role

We are seeking a post-doctoral in vivo electrophysiologist to join our multidisciplinary team of clinicians, neuroscientists, and engineers. We aim to improve mechanistic understanding of chronic pain which blights the lives of millions of people around the world.

To achieve this, we have developed a technique to record from peripheral sensory afferents, including ‘pain nerves’ (nociceptors), using silicon multi-contact electrodes (Sales et al., 2022. J Neurosci Meths). This enables us to identify peripheral generators of chronic pain.

We are working in collaboration with Engineers at Newcastle University to develop novel multi-contact electrodes for use in people.  This role will springboard from our prior work to optimise the electrodes and to investigate pain mechanisms in animal models of pain, particularly relating to fibromyalgia. A critical aspect of this role with be testing, feedback and applying learning gained from commercial silicon probes, to iteratively optimise the human safe electrodes.  

What will you be doing?

Day to day work will include planning, conducting, and analysing data from multicontact peripheral nerve recordings in rodents, made with either commercial silicon probes or novel probes. Within this role you will develop novel analysis methods and integrate these with existing and new stimulation paradigms. These analysis pathways will likely be developed in Python or Matlab and incorporating kilosort or similar software.

You will be a key part of the multidisciplinary team developing the human safe electrodes. This will incorporate presenting your findings and interpretations and then innovating within the team environment. We will aim to publish regularly in high quality journals, and you will be preparing manuscripts and revising drafts over the duration of the role.

You will have the opportunity to supervise undergraduate and post graduate colleagues in their related research projects as well as actively engaging in, and in some cases directing, the day to day running of the lab.

You should apply if

You have your PhD (or MD by research) with experience in in vivo electrophysiology. You may have experience of making and analysing data from multi-contact electrodes. You may also have a good understanding of pain neurobiology and a track record of working in multi-disciplinary research groups, though neither is a requirement. You may also have experience in data analysis tools such as Python, Matlab, kilosort. Importantly, you will be a collaborative and collegiate researcher who is an able presenter and teacher.

Additional information

For informal enquiries please contact Dr Jim Dunham, James.p.dunham@bristol.ac.uk.