About half of individuals with diabetes mellitus develop damage to peripheral nerves (peripheral neuropathy), and in about half of the individuals with peripheral neuropathy, pain is a salient feature that significantly affects the quality of life. Moreover, this pain is resistant to treatment with standard analgesics. In this project, you will phenotype individuals with diabetes who have a peripheral neuropathy, half with pain and half without pain, with the objective been to identify features of the neuropathy that differ between individuals with and without pain. The phenotyping will include, amongst other measurements, assessing sensory thresholds and tolerances to noxious and non-noxious stimuli, the endogenous capacity of the nervous system to regulate pain, measuring the density of nerve fibres and inflammatory markers in the epidermis, and measuring nerve fibre density in the cornea.
Read more about how to apply below: