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Dr Sarah Lewis, Dr Miguel Renteria, Dr Hannah Jones
Applications accepted all year round
Self-Funded PhD Students Only
Bristol
United Kingdom
Cell Biology
Epidemiology
Genetics
Human Genetics
Biological Sciences
Medicine
Pathology
About the Project
Rationale
Sleep has long been known to play a role in physical and mental wellbeing and sleep disruption has been observed to co-occur with a number of health conditions including: depression, chronic pain, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, ADHD, impulsivity, anxiety, and bipolar disorder (1). Recent large genome wide association studies have uncovered genetic correlations between sleep traits and health conditions. For instance, there is evidence of genetic correlation at the whole-genome level between snoring and schizophrenia( 2), and between sleep apnea and and self-harm. However, the precise molecular pathways, causal relationships and mechanisms are not clear. Does sleep disturbance cause health problems or do health problems lead to disrupted sleep or are the two linked by shared biological pathways early in development?
Mendelian randomization and state-of-the-art statistical genetics methods will be used to disentangle the genetic relationships between these complex traits.
Aims & Objectives
This project will investigate the causal pathways between sleep traits and physical and mental health using publicly available genome wide association study data, in order to identify risk factors for sleep apnea and downstream effects of sleep apnea on health and wellbeing.
Methods
During this project the student will:
1. Conduct a systematic review of the published literature to determine the strength of the evidence for the association between sleep and mental health traits of interest.
2. Refine genetic instruments for snoring, sleep apnea and mental health traits.
3. Conduct Mendelian randomization analyses of the effect of snoring and sleep apnea on a series of mental health outcomes.
4. Conduct sensitivity analyses to test whether the results could be influenced by the underlying assumptions of Mendelian randomization analyses.
5. Use analytical methods such as multi-trait analysis of genome wide association studies (GWAS), genomic structural equation modelling or co-localisation analysis and functional annotation to characterize the shared molecular pathways between sleep and physical and mental health problems.
How to apply for this project
This project will be based in Bristol Medical School - Population Health Sciences in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Bristol.
If you have secured your own sponsorship or can self-fund this PhD please visit our information page here for further information on the department of Population Health Science and how to apply.
References
1. Tarokh L et al. Sleep in adolescence: Physiology, cognition and mental health. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2016;70:182-188.
2. Campos AI et al. Insights into the aetiology of snoring from observational and genetic investigations in the UK Biobank. Nat Commun. 2020 Feb 14;11(1):817.
3. Davey Smith G, Ebrahim S. 'Mendelian randomization': can genetic epidemiology contribute to understanding environmental determinants of disease? Int J Epidemiol. 2003;32:1-22.
2. Campos AI et al. Insights into the aetiology of snoring from observational and genetic investigations in the UK Biobank. Nat Commun. 2020 Feb 14;11(1):817.
3. Davey Smith G, Ebrahim S. 'Mendelian randomization': can genetic epidemiology contribute to understanding environmental determinants of disease? Int J Epidemiol. 2003;32:1-22.
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