You will join the international consortium “DECIPHER: Deciphering the role of CD90+ stromal cells in neuropathic pain”, funded under the ERA-NET programme. The consortium aims to uncover the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying chronic neuropathic pain and to establish the foundations for novel targeted analgesic therapies. The project is based on the hypothesis that CD90+ stromal cells play a central role in driving and maintaining peripheral sensory neuron hyperexcitability, thereby contributing to persistent neuropathic pain independently of classical inflammation. Your work will focus on the preclinical validation of newly identified therapeutic targets using complementary mouse models of neuropathic pain, integrating behavioural neuroscience with advanced in vivo neurophysiology (pharmacological interventions and functional calcium imaging and multi-electrode arrays, MEA).

You will specialise in advanced in vivo neurophysiology, combining behavioural neuroscience with functional optical imaging of sensory neurons. Using viral delivery of genetically encoded calcium indicators (AAV9-GCaMP6s), you will perform large-scale in vivo calcium imaging of dorsal root ganglion (L3/L4 DRG) neurons together with quantitative behavioural assessment of neuropathic pain. The project combines state-of-the-art optical imaging, pharmacological intervention, computational data analysis and translational neuroscience in close collaboration with leading European laboratories.

The successful candidate will be employed full-time for 36 months within an internationally funded collaborative project and will have the opportunity to work with leading European groups in translational pain neuroscience while developing expertise in advanced systems neuroscience and preclinical therapeutic validation.

The role:

You will work on a generously funded project that delves into presynaptic control of primary sensory neurons by top-down brainstem noradrenergic neurons. You will use novel sensory neuron type specific alpha-2c-adrenoceptor knock-out mice in conjunction with selective optogenetic modulation of the top-down noradrenergic circuits to probe the noradrenergic mechanisms controlling nociception.

You will be specialising in in-depth histological and functional analysis of the knock-out mouse model. An ideal candidate will have a background in transgenic animals work and cutting-edge histological approaches (incl. RNAscope, tissue clearing and expansion microscopy apart from classic immunohistochemistry) with contemporary computational approaches in image analysis. A strong drive to learn and perform in vivo neurophysiological techniques (such as one and 2-photon in vivo calcium imaging) as well as rodent nociceptive behavioural testing will be of advantage