[visionlist] PhD studentship in visual development

[Marko Nardini]

PhD Studentship in Visual Development
University College London

Application Deadline: 23rd June 2010

Applications are invited for a 3-year PhD studentship at UCL commencing
in October 2010. The studentship is funded by the UCL Grand Challenge
studentship programme, an elite PhD training programme designed to
attract those researchers with the highest intellectual and scientific
skills. The studentship includes an annual stipend of £18,000, Home/EU
tuition fees, and £5,000 p.a. research funds. For details of the scheme,
please see http://www.ucl.ac.uk/slms/courses/research-degrees/ucl-gc

The Project

"New infant vision tests for studying disease mechanisms in inherited
retinal dystrophies". Inherited retinal dystrophies are an important
cause of childhood blindness. The genetic mutations underlying many
dystrophies are now known, and pioneering trials for gene replacement
therapy are underway at Moorfields Eye Hospital to treat a form of Leber
congenital amaurosis (LCA) due to RPE65 deficiency. (see
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0804/08042801). With progressive
retinal disease, any treatment is likely to be most effective in
children. Understanding the natural history of these disorders, and
evaluating new treatments, will crucially depend on obtaining reliable
measures of retinal function in young patients. This studentship will
develop new tests using state-of-the-art eye tracking technology to
provide detailed psychophysical measures of retinal function based on
infants' and young children's eye movement responses to visual stimuli.
Tests of major interest are those for visual acuity and contrast
sensitivity, sensitivity across the visual field, and rod and cone
function measured via flicker fusion and two-wavelength perimetry.
Psychophysical measures from these tests will be correlated with those
from electrophysiology and retinal imaging. These tests will play a
critical role in the study of disease mechanisms in the earliest stages
of progressive retinal diseases, and in evaluation of gene replacement
therapy and other new treatments. New treatments for restoring retinal
function also raise important research questions about the plasticity of
the human visual system, which the studentship may address.

The studentship will be supervised by Dr Marko Nardini at the Child
Vision Lab (UCL Institute of Ophthalmology), and by Dr John Wattam-Bell
at the Visual Development Unit (UCL Division of Psychology and Language
Sciences). The project's collaborators include Profs Tony Moore, Robin
Ali, Janette Atkinson and Oliver Braddick.

Qualifications

The project will involve co-design of new tests, and recruitment and
testing of healthy infants and patients. Applicants should have (or
expect to obtain) a good first degree in a field related to experimental
psychology, vision science or visual neuroscience. Technical aptitude and
previous experience of psychophysical testing are highly desirable, as
are an aptitude for recruitment and testing of infants and children.

Enquiries

Potential applicants are welcome to contact Marko Nardini (m.nardini AT
ucl.ac.uk) with any enquiries about the project. Enquiries about the
studentship programme or the application procedure should be directed to
the UCL School of Life and Medical Sciences
(http://www.ucl.ac.uk/slms/courses/research-degrees/ucl-gc).

How to Apply

A CV, one-page statement and names of two referees are required. Please
see http://www.ucl.ac.uk/slms/courses/research-degrees/ucl-gc for full
details. The scheme offers a number of projects. This project is number
46. The application deadline is 5pm on 23rd June 2010.
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