PhD Studentship: Environmental change and dementia; the impact of long-term exposures to temperature and air pollution

Project Title: Environmental change and dementia; the impact of long-term exposures to temperature and air pollution

The project:

Most major climate reports focus on the short-term impacts of heat on health. There is a significant gap in how long-term exposure to elevated temperatures might impact longer term health outcomes.

In this project, we will focus on one where there is evidence of a link, but which hasn’t been quantified and robustly proven yet, cognitive health. The connection is primarily through three pathways, although others may well be found during the PhD. First, a behavioural pathway whereby persistent and disrupted sleep and circadian patterns occur as the globe warms, and night-time temperatures make sleeping more uncomfortable. Second, a neurological pathway where changes in air pollution directly impact the brain. Third, rising temperatures may have independent direct detrimental physiological effects on the body that may exacerbate some risk factor conditions for dementia or indirectly through temperature-related limitations on activities that might contribute to other risks (e.g. higher cardiovascular disease).

The student will form part of the University of Bristol research group on climate and health, and feed directly into the partnerships with the Met Office, and the UK Health Security Agency.

How to apply:

Please make an online application for this project at http://www.bris.ac.uk/pg-howtoapply. Please select Geographical Sciences: Physical (PhD) on the Programme Choice page. You should refer to the project title and supervisor in your application. You will be prompted to enter details of the studentship in the Funding and Research Details sections of the form.

Candidate requirements: 

An upper second-class honours degree (or equivalent) in geographical sciences or related discipline

Funding:

The studentship will cover full tuition fees and a minimum stipend equivalent to the UKRI tax-free stipend of £17,668 per annum (22/23) for 4 years, and an additional £2000 p.a. contribution to Research and Travel costs.

Contacts:

Supervisory team:

Professor Dann Mitchell d.m.mitchell@bristol.ac.uk (School of Geographical Sciences, Faculty of Science)

Dr Liz Coulthard Elizabeth.Coulthard@bristol.ac.uk (Bristol Medical School, Faculty of Health Sciences)

Professor Patrick Kehoe Patrick.Kehoe@bristol.ac.uk (Bristol Medical School, Faculty of Health Sciences)

Dr James Matthews J.C.Matthews@bristol.ac.uk (School of Chemistry, Faculty of Science)

General enquiries: geog-pgadmin@bristol.ac.uk

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