Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: novel insights into the genetic basis of risk and survival times - MRC funded studentship

Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is a rare, chronic and progressive lung disease with a very poor prognosis (median survival 3 years) and limited treatment options and there is a need for new therapy and approaches to treatment. The primary aim of this project will be to discover novel genetic determinants of IPF risk and survival. These will further our understanding of the disease processes involved in IPF by identifying genes and pathways involved, and could lead to the development of new IPF drugs. In addition, inclusion of genetic predictors of risk and survival time in clinical prediction models could improve clinical care by facilitating approaches to stratify disease (“precision medicine”). The student will be based within an internationally-recognised respiratory genetic epidemiology group with close collaborations with leading IPF clinicians and researchers. A broad training in genetic epidemiology will equip the student for a career in the fast-moving and opportunity-rich field of human disease genetics. Applicants should have a background in bioinformatics, epidemiology, statistics or genetics (or similar) with an aptitude for computing (prior experience of programming is advantageous but not essential) and a keen interest in genetics and human disease.

http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/mds-graduate-school/scholarships/mrc-impact/index.aspx