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PhD on Computational Assessment of Spinal Instability in Scoliosis

September 7, 2022

PhD on Computational Assessment of Spinal Instability in Scoliosis

Are you eager to understand how instability in the growing spine can lead to excessive tissue strains and whether this could result in scoliosis?

Job description

Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS) is a 3D deformity of the spine affecting previously healthy children, substantially reducing their quality of life and creating a life-long burden of disease. Till now, no curative treatment exists partly because its cause and disease mechanism are still unknown. In this ERC funded project, we will uncover whether a complex perfect storm of anatomical, biomechanical and mechanobiological causes in the intervertebral disc are responsible AIS.

During the adolescent growth spurt, many changes are occurring in our spines. If tissue maturation is not matched by increasing loads and changes in shape, this could lead to spinal instability and excessive tissue strains. Until now this was not possible to study because AIS only occurs in human children and there were no safe methods to image their spines repeatedly during growth. In the ERC project, we are running a clinical study using newly developed MRI-based synthetic CT imaging to collect such information in normal and AIS children.

In this PhD research, we will first develop methods to generate subject-specific FE spine models. These will be based on a combination of landmark recognition, statistical shape/appearance modeling and machine learning methods. Once validated against imaging and biomechanical data from cadaveric spines, subject-specific multi-scale motion segment and spine models will be generated from the imaging data to explore spinal instability and intervertebral disc deformations during growth in the children of the clinical study.

The PhD candidate will contribute to a multi-disciplinary team of biomedical engineers, imaging scientists and spine surgeons, from the student to senior level, working on engineering, biological, imaging and clinical studies. An educational and professional development program is offered to all PhD candidates. You will also be involved in teaching courses, as well as contribute to the supervision of bachelor and master students. Based on your research, you will be expected to present at conferences, publish in scientific journals and write a doctoral dissertation.

Embedding

The research will be mainly conducted within the Orthopaedic Biomechanics (OPB) group which cover diverse topics in bone, intervertebral disc and tendons/ligaments, as well as articular cartilage. The group is well known for their multidisciplinary approach combining tissue mechanics, mechanobiology, and biomaterial mechanics. They utilize, in vitro, ex vivo and computational models to understand tissue conditions in disease and for regenerative engineering, operating at the international forefront of engineering of living, load-bearing tissues.

The OPB group is part of the Regenerative Materials and Engineering cluster of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Eindhoven University of Technology. The department offers Bachelors and Masters education programs who are integrally linked to its research areas ranging across Chemical Biology, Biosensing, Biomaterials, Biomechanics Tissue Engineering, Computational Biology, Biomedical Imaging and Modelling, with 800+ students and 200+ academic staff. The university is open and inclusive with short communication lines. The people are curious, collaborative, and strive for excellence in research and education at an internationally renowned level. Our lively campus community facilitates connections between staff and students, in an open, friendly, vibrant atmosphere that welcomes and inspires.

Job requirements

We are accepting applications from enthusiastic and highly talented candidates who meet the following requirements:

  • A MSc degree (or equivalent) in biomedical engineering or a comparable domain.
  • Experience and knowledge of tissue biomechanics is appreciated.
  • A research-oriented attitude.
  • Ability to work in a team and with the industrial partners.
  • Fluent in spoken and written English.

Conditions of employment

  • We offer a meaningful job in a dynamic, stimulating and ambitious team environment.
  • A full-time employment for four years, with intermediate evaluation after nine months.
  • A gross monthly salary and benefits in accordance with the Collective Labor Agreement for Dutch Universities.
  • Additionally, an annual holiday allowance of 8% of the yearly salary, plus a year-end allowance of 8.3% of the annual salary.
  • A broad package of fringe benefits, including an excellent technical infrastructure, moving expenses, and savings schemes.
  • Family-friendly initiatives are in place, such as an international spouse program, and excellent on-campus children day care and sports facilities.

Information and application

Do you recognize yourself in this profile and would you like to know more? Please contact dr. Bert van Rietbergen (b.v.rietbergen@tue.nl) or prof. Keita Ito (k.ito@tue.nl). Please include a curriculum vitae with a list of your publications.

PhD Position in Human Motor Control and Biomechanics

May 22, 2022

PhD Position in Human Motor Control and Biomechanics

part time 70%

Job description

The “BioMotion Center” group (professorship of Prof. Dr. Thorsten Stein) at the Institute of Sports and Sports Science (IfSS) offers a PhD position in an interdisciplinary robotics project at KIT, Germany. The aim of the project is the development of humanoid assistive robots and exoskeletons that provide personalized assistance for older adults to maintain independence during daily life.

In this project, the “BioMotion Center” group is working in close cooperation with researchers from sports & health sciences, computer science, and engineering science to address the following problems:

  • Biomechanical modeling and analysis of human gait and balance in critical situations (e.g., tripping) to inform the development and evaluation of exoskeletons.
  • Adaptation and de-adaptation of the user to an exoskeleton.
  • Use of exoskeletons as an analysis and training tool for physical performance in aging.

PhD students are expected to actively contribute to laboratory experiments related to the outlined problems and participate in all project-related interdisciplinary research activities (e.g., participation in weekly lab meetings or regular meetings with all co-investigators).

Personal qualification

  • Very good Master’s degree in the fields of sports science (preferably with a focus on movement science, biomechanics, or computer science) or physics/ engineering science (preferably with a focus on biomechanics)
  • Ability to work independently as well as within a team
  • Strong interest in interdisciplinary work in the context of human movements and assistive robotics
  • Basic knowledge in human motor control as well as biomechanics of human movements
  • Basic skills in programming (e.g., Matlab)
  • Advanced knowledge of written and spoken English (Project language is English) and at least basic knowledge of German (desirable)

Salary

The remuneration occurs on the basis of the wage agreement of the civil service in TV-L E13, depending on the fulfillment of professional and personal requirements.

Organizational unit

Institute of Sports and Sports Science (IFSS)

Starting date

as soon as possible

Contract duration

limited 3,5 years

Application up to

June 26, 2022

Contact person in line-management

For further information, please contact Prof. Dr. Thorsten Stein, email: thorsten.stein@kit.edu.

Application

Please send your application including a cover letter, your CV, and all certificates/referees in electronic form to the secretary of Prof. Dr. Stein, Ms. Glaser, email: petra.glaser@kit.edu

Vacancy number: 2112/2022

We prefer to balance the number of employees (f/m/d). Therefore, we kindly ask female applicants to apply for this job.

Recognized severely disabled persons will be preferred if they are equally qualified.

PhD position (m/f/d)

May 22, 2022

PhD position (m/f/d)

searched for The Clinic for Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery, Movement Analysis Laboratory.

The position is financed by the German Research foundation (DFG) and is limited for three years.

The division Movement Analysis directs two movement laboratories performing instrumented 3D gait- and movement analysis for research and clinical application. In the traditional gait laboratory patients with neurologic movement disorders are monitored for orthopaedic treatment planning and outcome control. In the second laboratory – designed as course with inclines and stair cases – patients with lower limb prostheses are monitored both for research and therapeutic treatment. A big archive of patients’ data including, gait data, clinical tests and treatment reports, is available for a period of more than 25 years.

Within a new research project, our aim is to assess Electromyography (EMG) signals in patients with cerebral palsy during walking to have a better understanding of EMG patterns. We aim to perform feature-oriented analysis framework for setting EMG data in context with clinical measures of joint ranges of motion, muscle strength, and spasticity as well as with gait features.

Possible candidates should hold a Master’s degree in mathematics or engineering, preferably Medical engineering, Computer or Robotics. Having strong background in machine learning and datamining techniques and programming skill especially in Matlab are required. Having knowledge in movement science would be plus. Candidates must be prepared for team work in a clinical setting.

Knowledge of German is not a formal prerequisite but the willingness to pick up the language will ease the work significantly.

  • Job-ID: V000009585
  • Field of application: Zentrum für Orthopädie, Paraplegiologie und Unfallchirurgie
  • Location: Heidelberg
  • Start date: 01.07.2022
  • Job Category: Science and teaching
  • Working hours: Part time (65%)
  • Published: 19.05.2022
  • Limitation:Temporary
  • Contract:TV-L

Contact & Application

Questions may answer Dr. Firooz Salami: Firooz.Salami@med.uni-heidelberg.de

Interested?

Please send your application including letter of motivation, CV and copies of certificates and references at best electronically as single PDF by email entitled ‘PhD Position, Muscle activation patterns in gait with cerebral palsy.

Zentrum für Orthopädie, Paraplegiologie und Unfallchirurgie
Prof. Dr. Sebastian Wolf

We stand for equal opportunities. Severely disabled persons are given priority in the case of equal suitability. The University Hospital aims to generally increase the proportion of women in all areas and positions in which women are underrepresented. Qualified women are therefore particularly encouraged to apply. Full-time positions are generally divisible, unless there are official or legal reasons to the contrary.

 

Professorship (W2) for Experimental Orthopaedics

May 10, 2022

At the Jena University Hospital (JUH), a

Professorship (W2) for Experimental Orthopaedics (m/f/d)

is to be filled for the first time in a joint appointment procedure with the Waldkliniken Eisenberg (WKE), according to the Thuringian model. Connected to the professorship are the establishment and direction of the Orthopaedic research facility at WKE.

The person to be appointed (m/f/d) should represent the subject in research and teaching. He/She should have an outstanding research reputation in the field of biomechanics, movement analysis, simulations, implants or biomaterials. The applicant should strengthen at least one of the research foci of the faculty (aging and age-related diseases, medical optics and photonics, sepsis and infection). Furthermore, a close cooperation with the neighboring subjects and participation in teaching are expected.

In order to be eligible for the position, candidates must have a completed degree in medicine or life or engineering science, pedagogical aptitude, a particular aptitude for academic work demonstrated by a doctorate as well as a Habilitation or equivalent academic achievements. The candidate should have an outstanding track record in publications, extramurally funded research (particularly from public third-party donors) and leadership skills. Participation in acquisition of collaborative projects is expected, too.

The employment contract with WKE is initially limited to 5 years. Appointment at Jena University Hospital will be at full membership level according to § 85 Abs. 7 Thür HG. Teaching obligation is 2h.

JUH and WKE aim to increase the proportion of women in research and teaching and therefore strongly encourage qualified female academics to apply. Severely disabled persons will be given preferential consideration in the case of equal suitability.

Please submit complete application documents online at

www.berufunsportal.uni-jena.de

by June 20, 2022. We kindly ask you to submit usual documents (cover letter, CV, copies of certificates and degrees, list of publications and lectures, list of courses, teaching evaluation, list of third-party funds acquired, research concept). In addition, your teaching concept should provide information about linking of preclinical and clinical phase, digitization and implementation of ÄÄpprO. Please contact berufungen@med.uni-jena.de with any questions.

PhD studentship in Musculoskeletal Biomechanics

April 14, 2022

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PhD studentship in Musculoskeletal Biomechanics

School: Applied Sciences
Duration of studentship: fixed-term, 3-years
Scholarship: includes stipend of £15,000 per annum, tuition fees at the UK rate and research costs
Closing date for applications: 15th May, 2022

Applications are invited for a full-time three-year fully funded PhD studentship at London South Bank University (LSBU), to begin in September 2022.

Ankle injuries account for approximately 10-20% of all injuries in football, with ~75% of these being ligament sprains/rupture to the lateral ankle complex. Worryingly, re-injury rates after a first-time sprain, across all sports, may be as high as 40-50%. Despite an intensive two decades of research, explicit ligament-specific diagnostic markers for risk of (re-)injury continues to allude sports practitioners. The purpose of this project is to develop a methodology to diagnose the susceptibility to lateral ankle ligament injury and differentiate normal from ineffective healing.

We are seeking an exceptional and enthusiastic person to join the researchers within the Sport and Exercise Science Research Centre (SESRC) at LSBU for a programme of training in applied biomechanics research. The Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 has placed our research group in the top ten of all UK universities by intensity-weighted research quality with world-leading and internationally excellent research (73%) and impact (90%).

Supervisors

Dr Darren James, Dr Sevan Harput and Prof. Kiros Karamanidis

Project details

The objective of the PhD programme is to develop and evaluate a methodology to analyse the biomechanical properties of ligaments, with particular focus on diagnosing the susceptibility to lateral ankle ligament injury and differentiate normal from ineffective healing. Specifically, the project will use ultrasonography to develop an image processing technique that directly evaluates ligament properties. The main scope will be to: i) ensure the robustness of ultrasound (B-mode and/or high-frequency) for this purpose, ii) develop a statistical colour model, iii) validate the model’s sensitivity on a human foot and ankle phantom, and iv) investigate ligament biomechanical properties in-vivo. There will be opportunities to travel to a collaborating laboratory for the successful candidate.

Eligibility

The successful candidate will have a degree and ideally an MSc in a relevant branch of engineering; and have an interest in programming and image processing. They will have prior experience of working in a laboratory environment and preferably within the topic area. The scholarship will be awarded, based on merit, for three years of full-time study. EU and international candidates are welcome to apply, but non-UK based students will be required to source funding to bridge the gap between home and international tuition fees.

Contact for informal enquiries: please contact Dr Darren James on email: jamesd6@lsbu.ac.uk.

How to apply

If interested, please send your resume/CV, copies of academic transcripts and a covering letter – outlining your suitability for the position, to Dr. Darren James (Director of Studies) at: jamesd6@lsbu.ac.uk by 15th May, 2022.

Shortlisted candidates will be contacted with an invitation to attend an interview. Candidates are requested to respond promptly to such an invitation, indicating their availability and agreement to attend. The successful candidate will be selected for the award in accordance with the University’s postgraduate admissions requirements and must be eligible under the Education (Fees and Awards) Regulations 1997.

PhD position at Heidelberg University (Germany) within the Research Training Group LokoAssist

February 24, 2022

“Seamless integration of assistive systems for natural locomotion of humans”

Technical University of Darmstadt & Heidelberg University

Overview

We are fascinated by supporting people with new technologies and are keen to advance approaches for motion assistance. Leg prostheses, orthoses and exoskeletons become active locomotion assistance systems by individually and situation-specifically detecting their users’ movements and providing them with appropriate force/torque support. The research in our RTG LokoAssist has received funding by the German Science Foundation (DFG) through a highly competitive process. It aims at a “seamless” integration of assistive devices into the human body schema. This requires an automatic recognition of different movement intentions to create an intuitive and predictable motor behavior. Such assistive systems promise a significantly expanded range of motion with lower metabolic energy expenditure, better individual adaptability, and greater ease of movement.

While this potential has so far not been fully tapped, the RTG addresses it with a highly interdisciplinary approach: the creation of innovative technologies, which continuously and actively involve potential users into the research and developmental process to achieve high quality interaction and a high level of user acceptance.

The RTG brings together researchers from computer science, engineering and human sciences who systematically investigate two central ideas in their research:

L1) Assistive systems exhibit dual functionalities: they support human movement (synthesis) and they help examining and identifying such (analysis).

L2) Assistive systems are evaluated in two complementary ways: objectively in their degree of body integration (expert’s perspective) and subjectively by the individual person (user’s perspective).

The RTG is part of a dynamic network of research and teaching activities of the principal investigators at TU Darmstadt, Heidelberg University, and leading national and international research groups, clinical research and companies. As a doctoral candidate you will work in interdisciplinary tandems across disciplines in joint laboratories. With an already available extensive laboratory infrastructure with different demonstrators of new active orthoses and prostheses, excellent conditions for experimental and theoretical research exist right from the start. Our cooperation network of leading international research groups from medicine, engineering, and life sciences enables doctoral students to have diverse, targeted learning and research stays.

 

PhD Subtopic C1: Assessment of movement and assistance scenarios

Short description

The needs for daily movements and appropriate support through motion assistance systems are very diverse – from quasi-stationary, but load-changing postures, e.g., in the kitchen, up to hiking in mountainous terrain. We aim to develop a catalogue of elementary movements of which these complex movements are composed and their context-specific need for support from the assistance system. Physical limitations, both from biomechanical as well as from the user’s perspective need to be considered.

Research will be performed to review functional handicaps in the context of lower limb prosthetics and orthotics for identifying everyday tasks and transfer situations to be monitored via motion capture, force, EMG measurements and other sensor modalities such as functional materials (ferromagnetic, ferroelectric). Everyday movements will be recorded, categorized and analyzed also in transfer situations for the physically unrestricted as well as their model-based movement decomposition.

The PhD student will perform respective research in movement science, starting from literature review, and cooperate in cohort trials in the motion lab.

Profile and qualification requirements

  • Very good Master’s degree in the fields of sports with focus movement science or engineering with focus biomechanics
  • Good programming skills
  • Good knowledge of English and good communication skills in German

PI and Co-PIs

Sebastian Wolf (PI), Mario Kupnik (Co-PI), Frauke Nees (Co-PI)

For further details feel free to contact the PI: Sebastian.wolf@med.uni-heidelberg.de. Application are please sent to this address and also submitted via the following portal: https://www.tu-darmstadt.de/lokoassist

PhD position at Heidelberg University (Germany): Balance and ageing

January 4, 2022

PhD position at Heidelberg University (Germany): Balance and ageing

The research group Computational Biomechanics at the University of Heidelberg (Germany) offers a 3-year PhD position to study balance in older persons brought to the edge of their fall recovery abilities and develop an individualized and adaptive training program. This PhD in the area of ageing, balance analysis and fall training is scheduled to start in the summer of 2022.

Job Description:

Falls pose a major threat to the well-being of the steadily growing population of older adults in our modern-day society. In principle, falls can be prevented by offering specialized fall training that targets the specific balance deficits of an older person. This PhD position aims to collect balance data in older persons using treadmill-applied perturbations that simulate varying fall scenarios. This data will advance our understanding of how specific balance deficits are to certain movements and fall directions. It will also allow us to identify personal factors and balance deficits to target in a small, individualized perturbation-based fall training study.

This project will be performed within the Institute of Computer Engineering (ZITI) in theResearch Group of Computational Biomechanics (www.ziti.uni-heidelberg.de/compbiom) as well as the Research Group of Optimization, Robotics and Biomechanics (https://typo.iwr.uni-heidelberg.de/groups/orb/home). There will be a close collaboration with the geriatrics department of Bethanien hospital. You will also be encouraged to take part in an international internship with our existing collaboration network.

As part of this project, you will:

  • Undertake biomechanics experiments with younger and older adults on a perturbation treadmill to evaluate balance analyses in a fully instrumented motion capture lab;
  • Collaborate within a multidisciplinary network of engineers, psychologists, sports scientists, and gerontologists:
  • Publish and present papers at international conferences that expand our understanding of the nature of dynamic balance, phenotypes of dynamic balance deficits, perturbation-based balance assessment and training.

 Desired Qualifications:

  • A MSc in Biomechanics, Human Movement Sciences, Sport Sciences or equivalent
  • In addition, please highlight if you have any of the following:
    • Experience with experimental research involving human participants
    • Experience with motion capture, EMG, IMU, force plates or similar systems and data analysis
    • Courses in Human Motion analysis, Medical Physiology, Signal Processing, Statistics
    • Experience with programming in Python, Matlab and/or Visual3D
    • Experience with obtaining medical ethical approval and/ or training in Good Clinical Practice
    • Good team working abilities, ability to naturally interact with participants, and organizational skills

Remuneration is based on TV-L (based on TV-L, 65% E13). The PhD position is for a duration of three years. The work will take place at Heidelberg University’s Neuenheimer Feld campus and Agaplesion Bethanien Hospital in Heidelberg, Germany.

Please send your application to orbsec@ziti.uni-heidelberg.de with the subject “PhD position EPP” before January 20, 2022. You are invited to send an application cover letter (including possible starting date), CV and expose about your Master thesis (max 1 page). In your CV please also give details of two referees we could contact.

Doctoral Position: Musculoskeletal Simulation of Subjects with Lumbar Spinal Stenosis

December 22, 2021

Doctoral Position: Musculoskeletal Simulation of Subjects with Lumbar Spinal Stenosis

100%, Zurich, fixed-term

The Institute for Biomechanics (IfB) is dedicated to the biomechanical and mechanobiological study of the human body across all scales, to investigate and characterise structural and functional properties of the musculoskeletal system. We develop, refine and utilise multidisciplinary tools and concepts to translate knowledge and techniques into clinical practice for musculoskeletal repair or regeneration.

Project background

The Institute for Biomechanics invites applications for a doctoral position, as part of a translational project investigating spine biomechanics with a focus on lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS). This 4-year project will be carried out at the ETH Zurich in collaboration with the The Spine Research Group and the Functional Biomechanics Research group at the Department of Biomedical Engineering (DBE), University of Basel. The project aims to test the overall hypothesis that LSS affects spinal load and that this functional abnormality depends on anatomical, functional, physiological and biomechanical variations and therefore the severity of the disease. The doctoral candidate at ETH Zurich will be responsible for musculoskeletal simulations, based on existing models developed in-house, and processing data provided from in vivo movement biomechanics experiments conducted in Basel.

Job description

You will be responsible for conducting independent doctoral research on the topic of musculoskeletal biomechanics, with a focus on the lumbar spine. You will develop and apply multi-body dynamic simulation models for the determination of spinal loading in subjects with varying degrees of spinal pathology, for comparison with age-matched asymptomatic subjects. You will document and publish your research findings, towards the ultimate goal of the successful defence of your doctoral thesis.

Specific duties:

  • Develop and successfully defend an independent research plan for your doctoral studies
  • Develop, modify, validate and implement a multi-body dynamic simulation model of the human musculoskeletal system within the AnyBody simulation framework
  • Collaborate with project partners at the University of Basel for defining and implementing data import schemes from laboratory motion analysis experiments
  • Evaluate project-specific hypotheses on the relationship between spinal loading and the severity of lumbar spinal stenosis, in close collaboration with clinical partners
  • Publish your research results in leading peer-reviewed scientific journals
  • Advance the state of musculoskeletal simulation models by publishing your advances in a central public repository
  • Supervise bachelor and master student projects in the focus area of your doctoral research
  • (Potentially) contribute to teaching through tutorials on musculoskeletal simulation

Your profile

You are a highly motivated individual with a master’s or comparable degree in biomedical engineering or related discipline.

Essential expertise, skills and characteristics:

  • Excellent grades
  • Strong knowledge of (human) kinematics and kinetics
  • Programming and/or simulation experience
  • Ability to work in a multi-disciplinary team
  • Ability to work independently, with flexibility, humour and critical thinking
  • Excellent English language skills (comprehension, spoken and written)

Desirable expertise, skills and characteristics:

  • Knowledge of musculoskeletal biomechanics and motion analysis
  • Direct experience with AnyBody or OpenSim
  • Publication(s) in a peer-reviewed scienfitic journal or conference proceeding
  • Prior collaboration with clinicians
  • German language skills

We offer

The position will be part of a research project funded for 4 years by the Swiss National Science Foundation. We offer an international, multidisciplinary work environment with excellent research infrastructure and a strong collaborative interaction with our project partners. Compensation will be according to the guidelines of the Swiss National Science Foundation (www.snf.ch) and internal Institute for Biomechanics policy. The expected start date is June 1, 2022.

ETH Zurich

ETH Zurich is one of the world’s leading universities specialising in science and technology. We are renowned for our excellent education, cutting-edge fundamental research and direct transfer of new knowledge into society. Over 30,000 people from more than 120 countries find our university to be a place that promotes independent thinking and an environment that inspires excellence. Located in the heart of Europe, yet forging connections all over the world, we work together to develop solutions for the global challenges of today and tomorrow.

Working, teaching and research at ETH Zurich Link icon

Interested?

We look forward to receiving your online application with the following documents:

  • Covering letter with statement of motivation
  • CV
  • Copy of bachelor and master transcripts
  • Copy of MSc thesis

Please note that we exclusively accept applications submitted through our online application portal. Applications via email or postal services will not be considered.  Applications will be submitted until February 28, 2022.

Further information about the Institute for Biomechanics can be found on our website www.biomech.ethz.ch. Questions regarding the position should be directed to Prof. Stephen Ferguson, email sferguson@ethz.ch (no applications).

In line with our values, ETH Zurich encourages an inclusive culture. We promote equality of opportunity, value diversity and nurture a working and learning environment in which the rights and dignity of all our staff and students are respected. Visit our Equal Opportunities and Diversity website to find out how we ensure a fair and open environment that allows everyone to grow and flourish.

Research Engineer/Sr. Research Engineer – Orthopaedics Research

December 3, 2021

Research Engineer/Sr. Research Engineer – Orthopaedics Research

Center for Orthopedic Research, Innovation and Training (CORIT) – Orthopedic Surgery, McGovern Medical School, Texas Medical Center-Houston, Texas

Position Summary:

Performs engineering functions related to independent research projects and collaborates with other researchers in science or engineering. Impacts design and coordination of research laboratory experiments.

Orthopaedics Research

Full Time

Exempt

TMC location 

Strongly preferred skills/experience in mechanical design & analysis, finite element analysis (FEA).

Position Key Accountabilities:

  1. Provides technical engineering expertise in the performance of laboratory experiments, data collection, and analysis.
  2. Sets up new experiments and maintains and/or modifies current experiments by assessing experimental needs and arranges the use of equipment.
  3. Coordinates laboratory utilization and equipment sharing among various researchers.
  4. Researches options for new equipment and supplies.
  5. Modifies computer software, uses power tools, and fabricates small adapters and mounts.
  6. Assists with instrumentation development.

Certification/Skills:

  • Ability to undertake complex and challenging projects.
  • Excellent research and problem solving skills.
  • Ability to use computer systems or specified equipment that is essential for the related areas.
  • Ability to interact with scientists and researcher from other disciplines is crucial.
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
  • Ability to work independently and as a member of a multidisciplinary team.

Minimum Education:

Bachelor’s degree in engineering, computer and information science or other applied sciences.

Minimum Experience:

Two years experience in applied research or related field. May substitute required experience with equivalent years of education beyond the minimum education requirement.

Physical Requirements:

Exerts up to 20 pounds of force occasionally, and/or up to 10 pounds of force frequently, and/or negligible amount of force constantly to move objects.
This position may include work involving potentially hazardous chemical, biological or radioactive agents.

Security Sensitive:

This job class may contain positions that are security sensitive and thereby subject to the provisions of Texas Education Code § 51.215

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth)

Established in 1972 by The University of Texas System Board of Regents, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) is Houston’s Health University and Texas’ resource for health care education, innovation, scientific discovery and excellence in patient care. The most comprehensive academic health center in the UT System and the U.S. Gulf Coast region, UTHealth is home to schools of biomedical informatics, biomedical sciences, dentistry, nursing and public health and the John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Medical School. UTHealth includes The University of Texas Harris County Psychiatric Center, as well as the growing clinical practices UT Physicians, UT Dentists and UT Health Services. The university’s primary teaching hospitals are Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital and Harris Health Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital.

UTHealth Benefits

UTHealth offers a comprehensive and competitive benefits package. For more information on our benefits programs please refer to the UTHealth Office of Benefits Website.

https://www.uth.edu/benefits/benefits-summary.htm

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

UTHealth is committed to providing equal opportunity in all employment-related activities without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, gender identity or expression, veteran status or any other basis prohibited by law or university policy. Reasonable accommodation, based on disability or religious observances, will be considered in accordance with applicable law and UTHealth policy. The University maintains affirmative action programs with respect to women, minorities, individuals with disabilities, and eligible veterans in accordance with applicable law.

As you may already know, UTHealth recently decided to take an important and necessary step to protect members of our community against COVID-19 by making COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory for all employees, residents, fellows, contractors, and volunteers. Individuals subject to the vaccination requirement must be fully vaccinated on or by January 4th, 2022. Additionally, all members of our community—including students and visitors—are required to comply with our new COVID-19 Workplace Safety Protocol, which contains masking and physical distancing requirements that applies in certain settings depending on the individual’s vaccination status. 

In addition, all UTHealth employees who are assigned to work at a location that is subject to the affiliated partner’s hospital, clinical offices, or agency are required to abide by UTHealth’s rules and regulations, as well as the affiliate’s rules and regulations, including COVID-19 vaccination requirements.

Apply for job.

 

PhD position in inertial sensor-based movement analysis for personalized therapeutic interventions in patients with Parkinson’s disease

November 4, 2021

PhD position in inertial sensor-based movement analysis for personalized therapeutic interventions in patients with Parkinson’s disease

100%, Zurich, fixed-term

The Laboratory for Movement Biomechanics in the Department of Health Sciences and Technology of ETH Zurich is seeking a doctoral student for a project on personalized therapeutic interventions to improve gait and movement quality in patients with Parkinson’s disease. The position is fully funded by a recently awarded LOOP grant to Prof. Dr. Bill Taylor and the StimuLOOP research consortium.

Project background

About the lab:

The Laboratory for Movement Biomechanics and the Neuromuscular Biomechanics groupspecializes in the field of human movement science with approaches for assessing the quality of movement and functional performance. Our aim is to extract key information on an individual’s functional status and thereby lay the foundations for understanding and monitoring the degenerative changes that occur with musculoskeletal and neuromotor pathologies, but also the adaptation that results from ageing or rehabilitation. The development and validation of novel movement-based biomarkers has thereby enabled encompassing approaches to support clinical decision-making in the fields of gerontology, orthopaedics and neurology, but also opens perspectives on the objective assessment of both medical technologies and therapies alike.

About the project:

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is one of the most common neurological diseases in the elderly population and account for substantial disability and health care costs. Disability is largely driven by mobility deficits caused by impaired gait. Effective treatments to improve gait are available, but treatment response differs strongly between patients and often fails. This variability is caused by heterogeneity in disease and deficit phenotypes. Addressing this heterogeneity requires personalisation, a concept we refer to as precision neurorehabilitation.

With the StimuLOOP project, we want to introduce novel and highly personalized therapeutic interventions to improve gait and movement quality in PD patients, using state of the art technologies to provide real-time neurofeedback and enhance the consolidation of real-time learning through an innovative sleep intervention. Results from this project have strong implications for future research covering different deficits such as speech/language, cognition, arm function, and adaptive deep brain stimulation which will soon be technically possible and may be a major clinical improvement in Parkinson treatment.

Job description

We wish to recruit a PhD student to join our team and help us maximise the potential of our state-of-the-art wearable device (www.ZurichMOVE.com) and analytics for the comprehensive assessment of gait and movement characteristics in elderly subjects.

  1. Lead and support the data collection in the project through testing and trials
  2. Improve existing methods and develop new methods for the analysis of inertial-sensor data from both indoor movement tasks and real-world movement monitoring in both healthy and pathological populations.
  3. Contribute to the quantification of movement quality, in particular gait, to provide new and meaningful endpoints for clinical trials for personalizing therapeutic strategies in people with PD.
  4. Build machine learning and statistical models to extract gait signatures from movement patterns to associate an individual’s quality of movement with their underlying neural damage and resulting motor deficit.
  5. Supervise clinical measurements of movement using these technological developments in cohorts of PD subjects before and after neuro-rehabilitation therapy.

Your profile

Essential experience and characteristics:

  1. Experience with developing computational algorithms for inertial sensor-based movement analysis is necessary for this position.
  2. Good knowledge of statistics is required for quantitative reasoning and comparative analyses of cohort/subject specific data
  3. Proficient oral and written English skills (indicated by proven ability to write scientific papers and deliver conference presentations). Proficiency in German is considered a bonus. Strong inter-personal and communication skills are a pre-requisite.
  4. Experience with working in a biomechanics laboratory and handling motion capture systems, force plates, and processing software is a strong benefit, but not necessarily required.

The preferred starting date for this position is January 2022. The job will be located in and around Zürich, Switzerland.

Opportunities for personal growth:

  1. Grow your skills: the position entails working within a high-level scientific laboratory with strong colleagues, scientific collaborators, and clinical partners.
  2. Grow your academic career: mentor undergrad and grad students, grant writing, conference attendance and presentation, and network with experts within Zürich and worldwide.
  3. Switzerland is endowed with an extraordinary variety of natural landscape (mountains, lakes, and rivers) to switch off after work and build your skills outside workplace.

ETH Zurich

ETH Zurich is one of the world’s leading universities specialising in science and technology. We are renowned for our excellent education, cutting-edge fundamental research and direct transfer of new knowledge into society. Over 30,000 people from more than 120 countries find our university to be a place that promotes independent thinking and an environment that inspires excellence. Located in the heart of Europe, yet forging connections all over the world, we work together to develop solutions for the global challenges of today and tomorrow.

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Interested?

We look forward to receiving your online application by 15th November 2021 including:

  1. A letter outlining your motivation to
    1. undertake a PhD
    2. apply for this specific position and how it aligns with your research interests / career goals
    3. join the Laboratory for Movement Biomechanics and ETH Zurich
  2. Curriculum Vitae
  3. Complete academic record with undergraduate and graduate courses and grades
  4. Contact information of 2-3 potential referees

The selection committee will review all applications within 2-3 weeks after the application deadline. As soon as a decision has been made, we will inform you about the next steps in the selection procedure.

Please note that we exclusively accept applications submitted through our online application portal. Applications via email or postal services will not be considered.

Questions regarding the position should be directed by email to Mr. Deepak Ravi, deepak.ravi@hest.ethz.ch (no applications).

In line with our values, ETH Zurich encourages an inclusive culture. We promote equality of opportunity, value diversity and nurture a working and learning environment in which the rights and dignity of all our staff and students are respected. Visit our Equal Opportunities and Diversity website to find out how we ensure a fair and open environment that allows everyone to grow and flourish.

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