KEY TAKEAWAYS

• 
  Hours
  38 - 40 hr.
• 
  Salary indication
  Salary gross/monthly
  based on full-time
  € 2,901 - € 3,707
• 
  Deadline
  17 May 2025

The two PhD candidates working on this project will have complementary expertise in medical biology and bioengineering, and will be based at Radboudumc and UTwente, respectively. Close collaboration between the PhD students will foster the synergy between all project partners. The PhD candidates will frequently move between our partnering institutions (1.5-2h travel) to fully integrate their expertise and advance the research. Using video calling, the unique expertise in cochlea biophysics from the Hannover team is easily integrated.
The main objective of the work is to find how can we (repeatedly) deliver drugs to the cochlea in a safe and sustainable manner?
Moreover, we will:
o Characterize the mechanical and biological properties of the RWM.
o Develop numerical and in-vitro models to investigate drug delivery.
o Employ microfluidics technology to identify safe and minimally invasive methods for intra-cochlear drug delivery.
Experimental plan: To develop reliable numerical/computational methods to study liquid-tissue dynamic properties. Here the team will ensure reproducible conditions to obtain parameters of tissue response at spatiotemporal scales not achieved before, with complimentary techniques.
We will establish finite element (FE) models of the human cochlea in (not limited to ABAQUS, ANSYS, etc.), using cochlear geometry obtained from literature.
The model will be refined to implement the specific properties of the different RWM models, employing Particle methods (e.g. Episim and UTwente’s MercuryDPM) to simulate the dynamics of discrete cells and Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluid-structure interaction models to assess how the intracochlear fluid (perilymph) influences RWM deformation.
We will also develop in-vitro models that better resemble the intricate cochlear architecture to investigate drug delivery. Moreover, we will employ microscopy techniques to describe tissue integrity and drug pathways at the molecular level. This will help us understand how both the drugs and drug solutions behave during paracellular drug delivery.