LMS Research Internship: The chemistry of osteoarthritic bone

Role & Department Overview Please note: these internships are only available to current undergraduate students in Lancaster University Medical School. This internship is offered as part of an exciting pilot of research opportunities for Medical School undergraduate students (MBChB and SaES). Each internship will be supervised by an academic member of staff. These opportunities are designed to give students experience of contributing to university research. These internships would be ideal for students considering postgraduate study, intercalated degrees or specialised foundation programmes. Salary: £12.21 per hour + £1.47 holiday pay Closing date: Fri 23rd Jan 2026 Interview date: Early Feb- tbc around exams Start Date: Mid-Feb 2026 End Date: End August 2026 Hours: Up to 25 hours per week Duration: 16 weeks (there is some flexibility over the vacation periods) Location: Work from home, the campus library, or use the hot desk space in Health Innovation One. Project Summary Osteoarthritis (OA) is increasingly prevalent, internationally (9.6% of females and 18% males have osteoarthritis globally), and in an ageing population these numbers will continue to increase, with significant impact on individuals' quality of life and healthcare economics. There is an unmet clinical need to identify individuals at risk of painful, debilitating bone disorders, to enable early diagnosis in order to mitigate impact of disease, reduce pain and increase quality of life. This project aims to find out more progression of OA, with the potential for discovering new therapeutic targets. As we get older our bones degenerate, and may cause joints to become very painful, particularly hips, knees and fingers. We don't really know what causes these changes. My previous work in this area suggests it may be caused by a defective protein in the bone, collagen, and that this might be detectable by Raman spectroscopy. So far, as part of an Academy of Medical Sciences Springboard grant chemical (Raman spectra) and protein data has been collected from 10 individuals undergoing a total knee replacement for osteoarthritis and from 10 cadaveric donations. The aim of this project is to complete multivariate analysis on the Raman spectral data collected from the subchondral bone samples and compare the results to the protein expression analysis. This will inform us about the chemical differences between the bones and confirm whether this is related to collagen changes, or not. This will support one publication and pave the way for future research into the development of osteoarthritis. Apply tot his job