Understanding how nutrition and lifestyle impacts on the risks for sarcopenia and frailty (WELCHU18SF) at University of East Anglia on FindAPhD.com

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Prof A Welch No more applications being accepted Self-Funded PhD Students Only

About the Project

Keeping our population mobile and in good health is crucial for our aging populations. Sarcopenia is the presence of low skeletal muscle mass as well as low grip strength or function. Sarcopenia, which is caused by the age-related loss of skeletal muscle mass and function, is a recognised condition in its own right but is also a risk factor for disability, frailty, osteoporosis and fragility fractures. Population preventative measures are important but the causative and protective factors for sarcopenia and its risk factors are not well understood. It is crucial therefore for population prevention strategies to understand causative and protective factors and to identify new intervention possibilities to alleviate this condition.

This PhD will investigate data from the UK Biobank, a study of 500,000 men and women aged 40-69 years in the UK, using epidemiological techniques. The project will explore which nutrition and lifestyle factors relate to skeletal muscle mass and grip strength in this large population, and how more precise measures of body composition (measured using DXA) and circulating vitamin D and cytokines are involved. You will be working with a team of supervisors at the University of East Anglia: Professor Ailsa Welch (nutritional epidemiology and sarcopenia), Dr Jane Skinner (statistician), Prof Andy Jones (epidemiology). This PhD will provide a great opportunity to develop your skills in nutrition epidemiology with the largest population study of the general population in the UK.

For more information on the supervisor for this project, please go here: https://www.uea.ac.uk/medicine/people/profile/a-welch
Type of programme: PhD
Start date: October 2018
Mode of study: Full time
Closing date: 31 May 2018 - NB Applications are processed as soon as they are received and the project may be filled before the closing date, so early application is encouraged.

Funding Notes

This PhD project is offered on a self-funding basis. It is open to applicants with funding or those applying to funding sources. Details of tuition fees can be found at http://www.uea.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/research-degrees/fees-and-funding.

A bench fee may also payable on top of the tuition fee to cover specialist equipment or laboratory costs required for the research. The amount charged annually will vary considerably depending on the nature of the project and applicants should contact the primary supervisor for further information about the fee associated with the project.

Standard minimum entry requirement is 2:1. Degree in Nutrition, Dietetics, Biological Sciences, Medicine.

References

1. Cruz-Jentoft AJ, Baeyens JP, Bauer JM, Boirie Y, Cederholm T, Landi F, Martin FC, Michel JP, Rolland Y, Schneider SM, TopinkovÃ¡ E, Vandewoude M, Zamboni M; European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People. Sarcopenia: European consensus on definition and diagnosis: Report of the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People. Age Ageing. 2010 Jul;39(4):412-23.
2. Welch AA, Kelaiditi E, Jennings A, Steves CJ, Spector TD, MacGregor A. Dietary Magnesium Is Positively Associated With Skeletal Muscle Power and Indices of Muscle Mass and May Attenuate the Association Between Circulating C-Reactive Protein and Muscle Mass in Women. J Bone Miner Res. 2016 Feb;31(2):317-25.
3. Welch AA, MacGregor AJ, Minihane AM, Skinner J, Valdes AA, Spector TD, Cassidy A. Dietary fat and fatty acid profile are associated with indices of skeletal muscle mass in women aged 18-79 years. J Nutr. 2014 Mar;144(3):327-34.
4. Welch AA. Nutritional influences on age-related skeletal muscle loss. Proc Nutr Soc. 2014 Feb;73(1):16-33.
5. Welch AA, Skinner J, Hickson M. Dietary Magnesium May Be Protective for Aging of Bone and Skeletal Muscle in Middle and Younger Older Age Men and Women: Cross-Sectional Findings from the UK Biobank Cohort. Nutrients. 2017 Oct 30;9(11). pii: E1189. doi: 10.3390/nu9111189. PubMed PMID: 29084183

Where will I study?

University of East Anglia

We’re one of the UK’s leading research institutions, ranked 10th in the UK for the quality of our research outputs and with more than 1,500 research students.

Understanding how nutrition and lifestyle impacts on the risks for sarcopenia and frailty (WELCHU18SF)

University of East Anglia Norwich Medical School