PhD Studentship in Cellular Medicine - Mitochondrial epigenetics; a molecular link between ageing and age-related disease

Postgraduate Opportunities

Newcastle University

Closing date: 30 June 2016
Supervisors:
Dr H M Byun, Human Nutrition Research Centre, Institute of Cellular Medicine
Professor J C Mathers, Human Nutrition Research Centre, Institute of Cellular Medicine
Sponsor: Research Excellence Academy studentship, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University
Duration of the award: September 2016 for 3 years
Person Specification
You must have, or expect to achieve, at least a 2:1 Honours degree in biomedicine, physiology, microbiology or a related area. A further qualification such as an MSc or MRes is advantageous.
The award is available to UK/EU and international applicants. If English is not your first language, you must have IELTS 6.5, or equivalent.
Project Description
Interested in how the ‘ageing process’ drives the development of age-related diseases? This project will investigate epigenetics mechanisms which may explain the relationship between ageing and age-related diseases.
Ageing is the main risk factor for most non-communicable diseases, including hypertension and cardiovascular disease (CVD). This risk is modified by lifestyle, and notably diet. We hypothesise that changes in mitochondrial epigenetic patterns with ageing contribute to the development of age-related disease and that dietary factors can ameliorate these effects. We will examine mechanisms that underlie ageing and their modulation by specific nutritional factors, and lay the basis for strategies to delay the development of age-related diseases.
The PhD student will develop knowledge of mitochondrial biology, ageing, age-related disease, genomics, epigenomics, nutrition, and the molecular techniques that will be used within the project, such as DNA/RNA extraction, pyrosequencing for analysing locus-specific DNA methylation, transfection using lipofectamine, and commonly used in vitro cell culture techniques. The PhD student will also learn bioinformatics tools for use in analysing the acquired DNA methylation data.

Funding information

Funding applies to:

Open to applicants from a range of countries

Funding notes:

100% of UK/EU tuition fees paid and annual living expenses of £14,296. Successful international candidates will be required to make up the difference between the UK/EU fees and international fees.

Contacts and how to apply

Academic contact:

For further details, please contact:
Dr H M Byun, Human Nutrition Research Centre
Institute of Cellular Medicine
E-mail: hyang-min.byun@ncl.ac.uk

Administrative contact and how to apply:

You must apply through the University’s online postgraduate application system. To do this please ‘Create a new account’.
Only mandatory fields need to be completed. However, you will need to include the following information:
- insert the programme code 8300F in the programme of study section
- select ‘PhD in the Faculty of Medical Sciences – Cellular Medicine' as the programme of study
- insert the studentship code 08MREA in the studentship/partnership reference field
- attach a covering letter and CV. The covering letter must state the title of the studentship, quote the studentship reference code 08MREA and state how your interests and experience relate to the project
- attach degree transcripts and certificates and, if English is not your first language, a copy of your English language qualifications.

Application deadline:

30 June 2016