FULLY FUNDED PHD: Traumatic brain injury related neurodegeneration

TO APPLY, CLICK ’INSTITUTION WEBSITE’

In the past decade there have been growing concerns regarding the late effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI); specifically, the association between exposure to repetitive head impacts in contact sports and risk of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

However, despite remarkable attention, this issue is not restricted to sport. Increased risk of late neurodegenerative changes, including hallmark tau and amyloid-beta pathologies found in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), have long been recognized following exposure to higher levels of single head impact.

In addition, an estimated 5-10% of AD and AD-related dementias (AD/ADRD) are thought to result from these types of injuries. Nevertheless, we know remarkably little about the progressive process of “Trauma-Related Neurodegeneration” (TReND).

This PhD programme offers the student an opportunity to work within the Glasgow Brain Injury Research Group (GBIRG) and with international collaborators centers contributing to the NINDS supported centre without walls initiative, the “COllaborative Neuropathology NEtwork Characterizing ouTcomes (CONNECT)”.

In the course of the programme the student will gain training in the design and implementation of original research studies directed towards understanding the association between TBI and late life neurodegeneration.

These will primarily be lab based studies interrogating human brain tissue samples for complex pathologies, but opportunity for wider involvement in GBIRG cells to society research programmes will be available.