Mechanisms behind fetal vascular dysfunction in pregnancies complicated by diabetes and pre-eclampsia

The central research focus of our group is to understand the mechanisms regulating two key functions of human blood vessels: permeability and angiogenesis. We are specifically interested in the role of junctional adhesion molecules and how their gene expression, phosphorylation and epigenetic modulation can lead to placental and fetal vascular dysfunction in pregnancies complicated by pre-eclampsia and diabetes mellitus. We use the extra-corporeally perfused term placenta and isolated human endothelial cells (placenta as a chip) as complementary experimental models. This allows a powerful integration of physiology, confocal imaging, epigenetics and molecular biology.

The University of Nottingham is one of the world’s most respected research-intensive universities, ranked 8th in the UK for research power (REF 2014). Students studying in the School of Life Sciences will have the opportunity to thrive in a vibrant, multidisciplinary environment, with expert supervision from leaders in their field, state-of-the-art facilities and strong links with industry. Students are closely monitored in terms of their personal and professional progression throughout their study period and are assigned academic mentors in addition to their supervisory team. The School provides structured training as a fundamental part of postgraduate personal development and our training programme enables students to develop skills across the four domains of the Vitae Researcher Development Framework (RDF). During their studies, students will also have the opportunity to attend and present at conferences around the world. The School puts strong emphasis on the promotion of postgraduate research with a 2-day annual PhD research symposium attended by all students, plus academic staff and invited speakers.