Job Description
Position Details
School of Engineering
Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK
Fixed salary of £53,555
Grade: 7 (Spot)
Full Time, Fixed Term contract up to February 2029
Closing date: 9th February 2026
Background
CUSTOM is an EU MSCA Doctoral Training Network connecting relevant academic and industrial expertise in emerging medical-device technologies across Europe and apply them to the problems of shoulder implants. Total shoulder replacements (TSRs) are now outpacing those of knees and hips, mainly due to the increasing use of reverse shoulder arthroplasty (rTSR), however roughly 10% of shoulder implants will fail within the first 10 years of service necessitating a complex revision procedure. Many of the current problems (e.g. soft-tissue failures, implant loosening, infection) derive from a top-down, one-size-fits-all approach to implants; CUSTOM plans to invert this approach, based on combining computational, patient-specific design and additive manufacturing to offer complex, custom designs and structures. The project also incorporates multi-functionality as well as blended experimental and in-silico testing to accelerate the path to certification.
More details on the project can be found here: https://hecustom.eu/
Total shoulder replacement (TSR) is increasingly offered to younger, more active patients, yet implant loosening and migration remain leading causes of early revision. This project tackles this challenge head-on by creating the next generation of six-axis pre-clinical simulators that combine patient-specific bony anatomy with real-time micromotion and fracture sensing. The work will generate the mechanistic evidence needed to refine implant design, surgical technique and international test standards, ultimately reducing the reliance on lengthy, expensive clinical trials.
Key research questions include:
- Can we recreate the complex glenohumeral loading and motion patterns of reverse (rTSR) and anatomic (aTSR) shoulder arthroplasty in the laboratory?