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Research Fellow in Lower-Middle Income Country Prosthetics

Mechanical Engineering

Location:  Highfield Campus
Salary:   £33,199 per annum
Full Time - Fixed Term until 31/01/2021 (with the possibility of extension until 30/09/2021 subject to funding)
Closing Date:  Sunday 28 April 2019
Interview Date:   Friday 24 May 2019
Reference:  1127119DA

This is a unique opportunity to work on cutting edge biomedical engineering research and implement your findings with expert Prosthetist-Orthotist clinicians in Cambodia, with direct benefits to people with limb loss and other major disabilities.

Join an exciting interdisciplinary research team of biomedical engineers, prosthetists, physiotherapists, healthcare psychologists, social scientists and computer scientists, working on data tools for community-based assessment of prosthetic limbs in Lower and Middle Income Countries (LMICs). You will work primarily with Dr Alex Dickinson and Dr Peter Worsley at the University of Southampton, and Professor Malcolm Granat and Professor Laurence Kenney at the University of Salford,

This role will include a set of biomedical engineering and health science research tasks around prosthetic limb design, performance and health assessment. You will investigate a range of digital clinical data collection tools such as actimetry, 3D shape scanning and a range of outcome measures. Then, in partnership with a computer science postdoctoral researcher you will evaluate a range of candidate technologies to collect and use this information in LMICs, and perform small proof-of-principle field trials in different Cambodian community settings.

The purpose of this research is to prove a model for supporting improved mobile patient care for people with limb loss and other disabilities, with a view to this model being implemented to drive significant social impact for patients and their families globally.  

This new Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) project will be run by a team in the Mechanical Engineering Department (Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences), and the School of Health Sciences (Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences) at the University of Southampton, and the School of Health Sciences at the University of Salford. You will collaborate with overseas translation partners Cambodian School of Prosthetics & Orthotics, Cambodia, and NGO Exceed Worldwide.

You will have the unusual opportunity to undertake aspects of your research work on-site in city and provincial communities in Cambodia, and potentially other nearby countries, including extended field testing visits.

­The successful candidate will have a PhD* or equivalent professional qualifications and experience in biomedical or biomechanical engineering or a related allied healthcare profession (e.g. physiotherapy, rehabilitation). You will also have strong biomechanics skills including:

• Experience in movement analysis (e.g. actimetry or gait analysis);
• Confidence in quantitative data analysis (ideally MATLAB and/or Python programming languages);
• Understanding of clinical outcome measures, both functional and patient-reported; and
• Excellent organisation, complex problem solving and written and verbal communication skills, ideally with a record of scientific journal and conference presentation publications.

Expert knowledge of any of the following areas is also desirable:

• Biomechanics of prosthetic limb use, especially in lower limb amputation, and/or orthosis use;
• Statistics;
• Experience of data collection in clinics or the community.

You will also have excellent inter-personal skills, willingness to travel and enthusiasm for working with people from different cultures.

This is a full time fixed term post until 31/02/2021, with the possibility of extension until 30/09/2021 subject to funding.

Please contact Dr Alex Dickinson for further information, at alex.dickinson@soton.ac.uk.

The University of Southampton is an institution in the top one per cent of world universities and one of the UK’s top 15 research-intensive universities. We have an international reputation for research, teaching and enterprise.

You will join a leading Engineering Faculty with an excellent record of collaborative research with industry and academic institutions in the UK and abroad. In October 2016 an Athena SWAN Silver award was received in recognition of our continued commitment to improving equality for women in science and engineering.

Application Procedure

You should submit your completed application form online at https://jobs.soton.ac.uk. The application deadline will be midnight on the closing date stated above. If you need any assistance, please call Geraldine Lewis (Recruitment Team) on +44 (0) 23 8059 3462. Please quote reference 1127119DA on all correspondence.

*Applications for Research Fellow positions will be considered from candidates who are working towards or nearing completion of a relevant PhD qualification.  The title of Research Fellow will be applied upon successful completion of the PhD. Prior to the qualification being awarded the title of Senior Research Assistant will be given.

Further details:

• Job Description and Person Specification