Applications are invited for an exciting 3-year fully funded British Skin Foundation PhD studentship to commence 1st April 2022.
The studentship is part of an interdisciplinary programme of work supervised by Dr Holly Wilkinson and Prof Mat Hardman at the Hull York Medical School, that aims to address the causes of chronic wounds and, with industry partners, develop new treatments.
Chronic wounds are a life-threatening complication of ageing and diabetes. Prevalence is high, with chronic wounds costing the NHS a staggering £6Bn per annum. As current wound treatments are inadequate, there remains a clinical unmet need to develop effective new therapies.
In this PhD studentship, you will build upon previous work from our group exploring the contribution of cellular senescence to impaired healing (Wilkinson et al., 2019 J Invest Dermatol). Specifically, you will test the hypothesis that bacterial modulation of cellular senescence is pivotal to the delayed healing observed in chronic wounds in the elderly. You will use cutting-edge skin wound models (in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo) to explore the causative relationship between specific bacteria and wound tissue senescence. In addition, you will test the concept that commensal (“friendly”) bacteria are able to prevent or alleviate chronic wound pathology. The project will provide extensive training in wound biology/microbiology. Collaboration with clinical colleagues will enable exploration of the links between bacteria and senescence in clinical samples. The project will provide training in a number of techniques including microbiome profiling, histology, cell culture and confocal microscopy.
For informal inquiries, please contact Dr Holly Wilkinson ([Email Address Removed]).
Location and Research Culture
The successful candidate will join the internationally renowned Hull York Medical School, embedded in a £28 million state-of-the-art Health Campus at the University of Hull. They will be located in an active and vibrant research group at the Daisy Research Laboratories, Castle Hill Hospital, where they will be supervised by experts in the fields of skin/wound microbiology and tissue repair.
Hull York Medical School’s unique partnership brings together the expertise of both the Universities of Hull and York and offers a thriving environment in which to conduct world-leading research. The Medical School delivers outstanding academic and clinical research with over 85% classed as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ (REF 2014).
This exceptional opportunity will provide academic and clinically oriented training in wound biology from the wider research team – working on an area with the potential to improve the health of people locally and impacting national and international health agendas.
Named Academic
Dr Holly Wilkinson, Lecturer in Wound Healing, Centre for Atherothrombosis and Metabolic Disease.
Email: [Email Address Removed]
Funding
This is a fully funded full-time project. The studentship will cover tuition fees and provide an annual stipend for 3 years at current UKRI rates. This project is only available to home-fee paying students.
Start Date
1st April 2022
Qualification Required
This studentship will appeal to a candidate with a strong interest in the Biomedical area. You will require an undergraduate degree with at least a 2.1, or MSc/MRes, in a relevant subject (Biomedical Sciences, Cell Biology, Microbiology or related discipline). If English is not your first language you will require a valid English certificate equivalent to IELTS 6.5+ with a minimum of 6.0 in all components.
How to Apply
All applications MUST BE submitted to Hull York Medical School via the online application method choosing the option PhD in Medical Sciences 2022 April, full time:
https://www.york.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/courses/apply?course=DRPMEDSMED3&level=postgraduate
The deadline for applications is the 17th December 2021
In order for the Panel to get a sense of your academic background, commitment and interest, you are required to complete the application form in full and provide an outline of academic interest. Outline of interest and personal statements may be used in selecting applicants for interview. If you have any queries on how to apply please email [Email Address Removed].
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