Back to search results

PhD Studentship: Genetic Predisposition to Accelerated Ageing: Targeting Telomeres Using Sex Hormone Supplementation in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. MRC GW4 BioMed DTP PhD studentship 2024/25 Entry, PhD in Clinical and Biomedical Sciences.

University of Exeter - HLS

Qualification Type: PhD
Location: Exeter
Funding for: UK Students
Funding amount: £18,662
Hours: Full Time
Placed On: 18th September 2023
Closes: 1st November 2023
Reference: 4868

The GW4 BioMed2 MRC DTP is offering up to 22 funded studentships across a range of biomedical disciplines, with a start date of October 2024.

These four-year studentships provide funding for fees and stipend at the rate set by the UK Research Councils, as well as other research training and support costs, and are available to UK and International students.

About the GW4 BioMed2 Doctoral Training Partnership

The partnership brings together the Universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff (lead) and Exeter to develop the next generation of biomedical researchers. Students will have access to the combined research strengths, training expertise and resources of the four research-intensive universities, with opportunities to participate in interdisciplinary and 'team science'. The DTP already has over 90 studentships over 6 cohorts in its first phase, along with 38 students over 2 cohorts in its second phase.

The 80 projects available for application, are aligned to the following themes;

Applications open on 4th September 2023 and close at 5.00pm on 1st November 2023.

Studentships will be 4 years full time. Part time study is also available.

Project Information

Research Theme:

Population Health Sciences

Summary:

Lung fibrosis is a devastating disease which causes 1% of UK deaths. On average, patients only survive 2-3 years after diagnosis. Ageing is a big risk factor; patients often have unusually short telomeres, correlating with a reduction in sex hormone levels. We will investigate if boosting hormone levels might improve telomere length and reduce disease burden - using data from cutting-edge lab experiments with lung cells, combined with analyses of patient genetics.

Description:

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a hugely debilitating disease of ageing, which has a dismal prognosis and a 5-year survival of only 20%. IPF accounts for around 5300 deaths each year (1% of all UK deaths). Current anti-fibrotic medications are expensive (£27k per patient per annum) and only slow disease progression, while having limited benefit for quality of life (largely due to a range of unpleasant side effects). New therapies are therefore paramount.

This proposal represents a novel opportunity to help establish the mechanism and potential efficacy of using sex hormone supplementation as a treatment. The project will employ a powerful combinatorial approach of genetic analyses, access to patient samples and cutting-edge in vitro approaches to ascertain how sex hormones may be able to boost telomere length and thereby revert one of the key hallmarks of ageing which may underpin disease development. This is a hugely exciting training opportunity in a wide range of cell and molecular biological techniques and bioinformatics. It has conceptual buy-in from our dedicated patient and public involvement group (PPIEG), and ongoing liaison with our PPIEG will also be an important part of the project.

Work from Dr Anna Duckworth, published in Lancet Respiratory Medicine, provided evidence of a causal role for prematurely-shortened telomeres in IPF using genetic analyses of data from UK Biobank (PMID: 33197388). This indicates an accelerated ageing process – partly explaining the cellular senescence seen in fibroblasts/epithelial cells in IPF lungs.

We value your feedback on the quality of our adverts. If you have a comment to make about the overall quality of this advert, or its categorisation then please send us your feedback
Advert information

Type / Role:

Subject Area(s):

Location(s):

PhD tools
 

PhD Alert Created

Job Alert Created

Your PhD alert has been successfully created for this search.

Your job alert has been successfully created for this search.

Ok Ok

PhD Alert Created

Job Alert Created

Your PhD alert has been successfully created for this search.

Your job alert has been successfully created for this search.

Manage your job alerts Manage your job alerts

Account Verification Missing

In order to create multiple job alerts, you must first verify your email address to complete your account creation

Request verification email Request verification email

jobs.ac.uk Account Required

In order to create multiple alerts, you must create a jobs.ac.uk jobseeker account

Create Account Create Account

Alert Creation Failed

Unfortunately, your account is currently blocked. Please login to unblock your account.

Email Address Blocked

We received a delivery failure message when attempting to send you an email and therefore your email address has been blocked. You will not receive job alerts until your email address is unblocked. To do so, please choose from one of the two options below.

Max Alerts Reached

A maximum of 5 Job Alerts can be created against your account. Please remove an existing alert in order to create this new Job Alert

Manage your job alerts Manage your job alerts

Creation Failed

Unfortunately, your alert was not created at this time. Please try again.

Ok Ok

Create PhD Alert

Create Job Alert

When you create this PhD alert we will email you a selection of PhDs matching your criteria.When you create this job alert we will email you a selection of jobs matching your criteria. Our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy apply to this service. Any personal data you provide in setting up this alert is processed in accordance with our Privacy Notice

Create PhD Alert

Create Job Alert

When you create this PhD alert we will email you a selection of PhDs matching your criteria.When you create this job alert we will email you a selection of jobs matching your criteria. Our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy apply to this service. Any personal data you provide in setting up this alert is processed in accordance with our Privacy Notice

 
 
 
More PhDs from University of Exeter

Show all PhDs for this organisation …

More PhDs like this
Join in and follow us

Browser Upgrade Recommended

jobs.ac.uk has been optimised for the latest browsers.

For the best user experience, we recommend viewing jobs.ac.uk on one of the following:

Google Chrome Firefox Microsoft Edge