Cellectricon, a collaborative services provider dedicated to advance drug discovery and research in the areas of chronic pain and neurodegenerative disease, is delighted to announce that we will participate in BonePainII, a European Innovative Training Network committed to promote frontline research, innovation and education within bone pain.

Millions of Europeans and beyond suffer from bone pain, which is a debilitating complication of e.g. many musculoskeletal disorders such as arthritis and bone metastasis. Even though the pain affects the quality of life of many people, research on bone pain has been limited. The BonePainII network has participants from six European countries and encompasses eight academic groups and four commercial companies all committed to creating an outstanding training program for 15 early stage researchers (ESRs) to elucidate the mechanisms of bone pain and develop new treatments.

“We are very pleased to be part of the BonePainII network and to be able to exchange knowledge with the neuroscientists and bone researchers within the network” said Cellectricon’s CEO, Dr Mattias Karlsson.

The 15 PhD students will obtain interdisciplinary, state-of-the-art training e.g. by secondments with industrial and academic partners within the network, including some of the foremost pain researchers in Europe. The project is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 814244.

Cellectricon will collaborate with Karolinska Institutet to offer a 4-year PhD fellowship aimed to develop novel methods and assays for assessment of macrophage and bone cell-driven changes in nociceptor excitability in antibody-induced arthritis.

“In the PhD project we are driving, we are looking for a PhD candidate that will participate in the development of novel in vitro assays and technologies to mimic the interactions of a pathological bone environment with sensory neurons.” said Cellectricon’s CSO and Director of Chronic Pain research, Dr Paul Karila. “Example technologies that the student will use are microfluidic-based, compartmentalised chambers for creation of “disease in a dish” systems and high throughput assays. The methodologies developed in the PhD project, in addition to Cellectricon’s established models, will be used to investigate novel biomarkers of osteoarthritis (OA) pain and for drug screening to identify compounds that may be developed into therapeutics for patients suffering from bone pain.”

More information on the PhD position and how to apply. To learn more about the BonePainII network and partners, visit www.bonepain.eu