PhD Studentship: Disentangling Diabetes: A Novel Genetic Decomposition Approach

The GW4 BioMed3 Doctoral Landscape Programme is offering up to 18 MRC funded studentships across a range of biomedical disciplines, with a start date of October 2027.

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

This project is in competition for place with the projects across the MRC GW4 BioMed3 Doctoral Landscape Award studentships.  There are a total of 18 studentships available across the partnership.  

Diabetes is a highly heterogeneous condition, but its clinical management relies heavily on HbA1c – a biomarker affected by distinct pathways: glucose metabolism (glycaemic) and independent red blood cell biology (non-glycaemic). This means that HbA1c can sometimes lead to incorrect management of diabetes. To address this problem, the project will use statistical genetics to untangle these distinct biological pathways. By separating the genetic architecture of glucose from peripheral red blood traits, we will uncover how these independent mechanisms drive diabetes aetiology and long-term complications, ultimately untangling diabetes heterogeneity to understand why different individuals experience different disease outcomes.

These studentships are funded through GW4 BioMed3 MRC Doctoral Landscape Programme and consist of UK tuition fees, as well as a Doctoral Stipend matching UK Research Council National Minimum (£21,805 p.a. for 2026/27, updated each year).

Additional research training and support funding of up to £5,000 per annum is also available.

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