Imaging-genetics in the cardiovascular system.

Supervisors: Professor Daniel Rueckert, Professor Stuart Cook and Dr Declan O’Regan

Applications are invited for this MRes/PhD studentships within the BHF Centre of Research Excellence at Imperial College London, one of six starting October 2015. The studentships are funded through a training grant from the BHF on a tax-free bursary starting from £17,500 per annum. Tuition fees will be paid at the Home/EU rate. There is no provision for overseas student fees.

Imperial College London’s BHF Centre of Research Excellence, sponsored by the UK’s leading charity for pioneering research into heart disease, is an established cross-disciplinary venture. Our aim has been to foster a unique collaborative research environment that draws on Imperial’s world class reputation in cardiovascular science, engineering and collaborating physical sciences.

Project summary
This PhD project will address one of the most important challenges in healthcare which is to understand how genetic variation influences the development of heart disease. Conventionally simple phenotypes are used which capture only cardiac mass and volume – but these do not exploit the rich biological information that is now available using new imaging technologies. The first phase of the project will take 3D cardiac MRI data from a large adult population and use it to create innovative computational models of both anatomical and motion-based characteristics. The second phase will be a “big-data” challenge to explore ways to address the high-dimensionality of both 3D segmentations and whole genome sequencing to develop powerful regression models for imaging-genetics association studies. The successful candidate should have, or expect to have an Honours Degree at 2.1 or above (or equivalent) in Mathematics or Computational Science with good knowledge of programming and algorithms.

Students will first undertake the MRes in Biomedical Research, a full-time master’s course, in which we form the Cardiovascular Science, Technology and Medicine (C/STEM stream), with projects and taught classes provided by BHF Centre members. Our trainees receive cross-disciplinary supervision, with at least two supervisors drawn from different Faculties or Departments. Upon successful completion of the MRes year, students will progress to a 3 year PhD training programme in an aligned area.

Imperial College London provides excellent opportunities for research student training. All students benefit from a full programme of training in research and transferable skills organised through the Graduate School, the quality of which has been recognised several times at the Times Higher Education (THE) Awards.

How to Apply
Applicants must hold, or expect to obtain, a first or upper second-class honours degree or equivalent in an appropriate subject from a recognised academic institution. To apply, please send your CV, the names and addresses of at least two academic referees and a personal statement of no more than 1,000 words explaining your interest in a cross-disciplinary approach to cardiovascular science relevant to the project to Dr Gunvanti Goding by email on [Email Address Removed] Candidates must meet with BHF residency requirements which can be viewed on https://www.bhf.org.uk/research/information-for-researchers/how-to-apply/essential-information. Please note that candidates must fulfil College admissions criteria.

Please assume that your application has not been successful if you have not heard from us within a month of the closing date.

Closing date for all applications: 2 March 2015

Interviews will be held at the end of March 2015

Website: http://www.imperial.ac.uk/nhli/

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