22 April 2013

In her final year of study at the Complex Systems Simulation Doctoral Training Centre, Gwen Palmer has received a coveted EPSRC award to continue her research.

Current research

Gwen Palmer is currently in her final year of the ICSS Doctoral Training Centre PhD program, with a PhD titled "Modelling Neuronal Activity at the Knee Joint". Knee pain is a major issue among patients, with common causes being osteoarthritis or trauma. Although corrective surgery is possible, patients may still experience unacceptable levels of pain. Gwen is exploring how knowledge of nerve endings in the knee joint could help us to understand why these patients are still in pain. Using finite element methods, she and her colleagues have developed a computational model that represents a feline knee joint. This has been coupled with neural models, adapted from the Hodgkin-Huxley mathematical description of generation of action potential. She will be able to determine which structures in the knee joint contribute more to a neuronal response, and therefore which structures are more likely to contribute more to a patient feeling pain.

EPSRC doctoral prize

The EPSRC Doctoral Prize will provide up to one year of additional funding to enable students to research beyond the end of their PhD and to help them launch a career. Doctoral Prize awardees will be expected to participate in leadership development, outreach and impact activities, and contribute to the training of other PhD students. There will be a total of ten awards to be made across the University as part of the 2013 scheme. The funding will begin on completion of Gwen's PhD Viva.

Proposed research

There are four main nerve endings present at the knee joint, each with a different structure and behaviour. Three of these are branched structures. For the year of research funded by the Doctoral Prize, Gwen has proposed to explore the extent to which nerve ending behaviour is directly related to its structure. In order to test this, she will be developing finite element models of each of the three branched endings and observing how applied loads are transferred through the structure. If it is proven that the structure and behaviour are directly related, the neural models developed during Gwen's PhD studies will be generalised to address any nerve ending with a known structure. Not only would this work be directly related to her PhD topic, but this would also generate understanding of the behaviour of a range of sensory nerve endings.

Work with neuroscience groups

During the final year of her PhD studies, Gwen has been working with the neuroscience group in Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia. Since her proposed research project involves further sensory nerve ending modelling, she hopes to continue communications with them, since they already work closely on mechanical sensing in nerve endings. "The University of Southampton has a strong neuroscience group (SoNG) and I hope to begin working with them also. One of the major reasons for wanting to work with neuroscientists is to ensure that my work remains applicable to real world".

Read more about Gwen Palmer here.