Looking to list your PhD opportunities? Log in here.
About the Project
Skin in the largest organ in the human body consisting of epidermis, dermis and subcutis. It also contains epithelial appendages, including hair follicles and sweat glands. Due to the skin location it is prone to injury induced wounds. Skin wound healing is a highly coordinated process divided in three partially overlapping phases of inflammation, proliferation/repair and remodelling. Defects in this process lead to the chronic non-healing wounds, common in people with underlying health conditions, for example diabetes, and in elderly. The deeper understanding of molecular and cellular mechanisms controlling normal wound healing and how defects in these mechanisms result in chronic non-healing wounds is important for improvement of wound treatment.
Skin wound healing is driven by proliferation, migration and/or differentiation of several cell types, including immune cells, epithelial cells, endothelial cells and fibroblasts. These processes are control by changes in the cellular gene expression programmes, that are governed by interplay of cell signalling pathways, transcription factors and epigenetic regulators. Epigenetic regulators control gene transcription by regulating the structural dynamics of chromatin, which is the complex of DNA with proteins and RNA the eukaryotic chromosomes are made off. The role of epigenetic regulators in the control of skin development and homeostasis is a very active research area, including the work in Dr Fessing’s and his collaborators’ laboratories. However, how epigenetic regulators control skin wound healing remains poorly understood.
The project will be focused on the role of a specific class of epigenetic regulators in fibroblast cellular functions during skin wound healing. Better understanding of the underlying mechanisms will also help to further extend our knowledge of chronic non-healing wounds and improve therapeutic approaches.
Dr Fessing and the co-supervisor laboratories are located in the Centre for Skin Sciences, one of the leading skin research centres in the UK. The PhD student will develop a deep expertise in molecular, cellular, and skin biology. The hands-on knowledge of a broad range of modern biomedical and biological experimental and data analysis techniques will also be gained. The Centre for Skin Sciences is part of the School of Chemistry and Biosciences at the Faculty of Life Sciences, which hosts a dynamic diverse collaborative team of biologists and chemists focusing on the modern research in biosciences and biomedical sciences.
Entry requirements
Applicants should hold, or be expected to hold, a Master’s degree with a minimum of a Merit, and/or a UK 1st/ 2.1 class Bachelor’s Honour’s Degree in Cell Biology, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Genetics, Biomedical Sciences or a related subject.
Applications should be made via the University of Bradford web site.
Funding Notes
Email Now
Why not add a message here
The information you submit to University of Bradford will only be used by them or their data partners to deal with your enquiry, according to their privacy notice. For more information on how we use and store your data, please read our privacy statement.

Search suggestions
Based on your current searches we recommend the following search filters.
Check out our other PhDs in Bradford, United Kingdom
Check out our other PhDs in United Kingdom
Start a New search with our database of over 4,000 PhDs

PhD suggestions
Based on your current search criteria we thought you might be interested in these.
Application of animal corneal cells for skin regeneration, tissue engineering and wound healing enhancement
University of Bradford
Investigation of the role of molecular regulators during skin development and wound healing
Nottingham Trent University
Epigenetic regulation in heart failure and cardiac sudden death
The University of Manchester