Tissue engineering of the blood vessel wall

Applications are invited for a 3-year, fully-funded PhD studentship in the Section of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford.

This PhD position starts in October 2017 and is based primarily in the laboratory of Dr Paola Campagnolo in collaboration with the Section of Virology and the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences.

Dr Campagnolo has recently joined the department as a University lecturer and a new group leader; she is interested in the development of tissue engineering solutions for vascular diseases.

This is an interdisciplinary project focusing on the development of an in vitro bioreactor model for the investigation of the mechanisms underlying the vascular complications of systemic diseases.

The work will be focused on the engineering of a bioreactor for the maintenance and culture of tissue engineered blood vessel constructs and will involve working on the preparation of the biomaterials composing the scaffold as well as the isolation and culture of the cells forming the tissue.

The tissue engineered blood vessel will be used as a model to study the effect of systemic diseases on the biology and interactions of cells in the vascular wall.

In particular our group is interested in the mechanisms underpinning the vascular leakage occurring during severe hemorrhagic fevers and diabetes as well as the molecular pathways involved in leukocyte migration in early atherosclerotic events.

Vascular diseases and vascular complications are the cause of mortality in a large portion of the world population, understanding and modelling these events is fundamental to find suitable therapeutic approaches.

The methodologies developed during this PhD are material science and bioreactors, molecular biology/protein isolation and characterization, cell culture and advanced microscopy. The work will be done in close collaboration with the Department of Microbial Sciences and the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Surrey.

You will be part of the Cardiovascular Research Group at the University of Surrey and will be involved in close collaborations with a number of other internationally recognised research groups at the University of Bristol and Imperial College London.

Applicants should have:
1.At least an upper, second class honours degree (2.1) or equivalent in (but not restricted to) Biomedical Sciences, Biological Sciences, Biomedical Engineering or Material Sciences. Applications are particularly welcome from applicants who have a material science background and are keen to apply their skills in wet-lab settings.
2.Fluency in English language.
3.Motivation and enthusiasm for interdisciplinary work, capable of thinking and working independently.

The university values diversity and is committed to equality of opportunity.

How to apply

Applications must quote the reference and include a cover letter, research statement, CV and at least contact details of two academic references.

Applicants must apply via the University of Surrey online application system (found on the apply link), while informal enquiries can be directed to [Email Address Removed].