Dr B Payne
Applications accepted all year round
About the Project
Interested in why we age? Interested in helping improve the long-term health of patients with HIV? This PhD project will explore the intersection of these important topics.
Patients with long-term treated HIV exhibit features of accelerated biological ageing. Currently we don’t understand why this happens, or the consequences for health. You will investigate the hypothesis that certain anti-HIV drugs act on mitochondrial DNA mutations occurring due to normal ageing, and cause them to expand within cells (a process known as ‘clonal expansion’), leading to physiological impairment.
You will work with a mouse model of mitochondrial ageing and tissue samples from patients. You will learn a wide variety of molecular techniques, including massively parallel sequencing. You will also be trained in bioinformatic analysis.
Funding Notes
Sponsor: John William Luccock and Ernest Jeffcock studentship
The funding covers 4-year integrated MRes/PhD. MRes will be in a relevant subject area by agreement of the supervisory team.
The award covers tuition fees at the UK/EU rate and an annual stipend of £14,057 (2015-16).
Project Start Date: October 2015.
References
You must have, or expect to achieve, a first-class or upper-second-class Honours degree in a subject relating to the biomedical sciences or a related area such as microbiology.
It is expected that the applicant will pursue the 4-year integrated MRes/PhD, but exceptional candidates may be considered for a 3 year PhD.
This award is available to UK/EU and International applicants. If English is not your first language, you must have IELTS 7 with at least 6.5 in the written component, or equivalent. Non-EU applicants will need to demonstrate that they can secure funding for the difference in fees between the International and EU rates.
How to apply:
You must apply through the University’s online postgraduate application form (http://www.ncl.ac.uk/postgraduate/apply/). Only mandatory fields need to be completed. However, you will need to include the following information:
• insert the programme code 4850F in the programme of study section
• select ‘Master of Research/Doctor of Philosophy (Medical Sciences) – Genetic Medicine’ as the programme of study
• insert the studentship code HG054 in the studentship/partnership reference field
• attach a covering letter and CV. The covering letter must state the title of the studentship, quote the studentship reference code HG054 and state how your interests and experience relate to the project
• attach degree transcripts and certificates and,if English is not your first language, a copy of your English language qualifications
Please also send your covering letter and CV to Dr Brendan Payne by email to brendan.payne@ncl.ac.uk.
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