Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Fixed term: 13 months

Full-time: 35 hours per week

Postdoctoral Research Fellow - University of Edinburgh Careers

The Opportunity:

We are looking for a Postdoctoral Research Fellow for a 13-month post, to investigate a promising target for the treatment of post-surgical tactile pain, funded by the National Institute for Academic Anaesthesia/British Journal of Anaesthesia/Royal College of Anaesthetists. The Torsney lab has recently discovered that, following surgery, there is novel tactile innervation of the incision site surround that occurs concurrently with tactile-evoked pain behaviours in a preclinical model. Moreover, acute blockade of BDNF-TrkB signalling limits both the tactile corpuscle development and the tactile-evoked pain. To maximise translational potential this preclinical research proposal will optimise the ‘treatment’ options and trial use of an imaging approach to ‘detect’ this phenomenon.

We expect that the candidate contributes to a programme of high-quality research and conduct original research to produce material for publication and dissemination. Regular reporting of progress to the PI/other members of the research team is expected.

The successful candidate will conduct behavioural somatosensory phenotyping in a preclinical surgical model with pharmacological interventions and immunofluorescence staining and analysis. Besides expertise in relevant approaches, analytical techniques and methods we expect that the candidate has an appropriate degree, with relevant post-graduate research experience (normally a PhD or equivalent professional qualification and/or experience) and ability to communicate complex information clearly, orally and in writing.

Your skills and attributes for success: 

• PhD, or PhD near completion, in biological sciences
• Experience in scientific experimental design, interpretation, data communication at scientific events
• Experience in animal work involving in vivo rodent models
• Experience in tissue immunostaining and analysis

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