PhD Studentship: Sequencing babies: understanding penetrance of childhood epilepsy to inform newborn screening

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.  

Many countries are now planning to sequence the complete DNA of babies at birth to screen for hundreds of genetic conditions. This PhD project will generate the evidence to inform which genes and variants should be included in newborn genome screening. Using large datasets from clinical and population cohorts, the student will analyse the prevalence and penetrance of variants associated with monogenic epilepsy and other neurodevelopmental disorders to expand our understanding of genotype-phenotype correlations in these conditions. This work will improve understanding of the risks associated with genetic variants, and guide which conditions should be included in newborn genome screening.

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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