We are seeking a highly motivated candidate for a PhD student fellowship to join our team at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), in Genova, Italy. The goal of the project is to create an opto-neural interface made of organic semiconducting polymers allowing light-evoked excitation/inhibition of targeted neural cells populations, both in vitro and ex vivo in explanted retinas. The proposed activity is of the upmost importance toward the realization of a broader project, i.e. the fabrication of an implantable Organic-based Prosthetic Device (OPD) for the treatment of genetic degenerative diseases of the retina, aiming at restoring vision in blind people. We expect to set-up an efficient bio-organic photovoltaic interface to mimic the light sensitivity, transduction efficiency, spectral characteristics, spatial and temporal resolution of the intact neuronal network of the retina. We also expect that this prosthesis activates retinal ganglion cell activity upon physiological illumination in explants of degenerated retinas and that, once coupled to a suitable substrate for implantation, can rescue vision in experimental models of retinal degeneration. The project will study the impact of photovoltaic organic polymers on primary neuron physiology in vitro and in vivo, adopting standard live imaging and electrophysiological techniques, i.e. patch-clamp and multi-electrode array recordings. The same opto-neural interfaces will be tested on retinal explants and eventually implanted in vivo in experimental models of photoreceptor degeneration.
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