Sequence variation and epigenomic mechanisms underlying human neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases

This is the decade of the ‘brain’ and this is also the decade of advancements in ‘genomic technologies’. This project aims to use cutting edge sequencing technologies and molecular approaches to understand susceptibility to human disorders of the brain.

The project will use a combination of bioinformatics and statistical tools with molecular biology techniques to investigate how sequence variants, including deleterious mutations, and epigenomic features differ between populations of healthy and non-healthy individuals. Identified risk variants, epi-alleles and modified transcripts may also be assessed for correlations with phenotypic data such as cognitive performance and biochemical measures. The findings of such studies should improve our understanding of how genetic architecture relates to biological and pathophysiological processes which contribute to expression of brain disease - a key topic in current academia.

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.