Regenerative Medicine, Stem Cells, Transplantation (RMSCT) are offering one PhD studentship in Stem Cell Biology for entry in September 2024. They will be supported by the Newcastle Fund. This is possible due to the generosity of an anonymous benefactor.
The studentship will be awarded in open competition. The studentship is available for projects in diverse areas of Stem Cell Biology. Established research leaders from across the University will supervise the studentship.
Each studentship provides:
- a stipend (£18,622 p.a. for 2023/24)
- standard home fees. Applications are welcome from students in all countries. Students from outside the UK will pay full international fees. International students may be eligible to apply for a Newcastle University Scholarship to cover the additional cost
- a research allowance of £10,000 p.a.
To apply, visit: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/medical-sciences/research/research-themes/regenerative-medicine/studentship/
Applications should be submitted by 29 February 2024
One of the 3 projects that are offered is:
3 – Using human pluripotent stem cells to understand how genetic variation and epigenetic changes increase osteoarthritis risk
Project outline
Osteoarthritis is a common debilitating musculoskeletal disease that affects over 9 million people in the UK, yet there are no drugs that slow disease progression. The disease is typified by loss of cartilage, the tissue which allows joints friction-free movement. Genetic risk loci, along with epigenetic changes, for Osteoarthritis occur predominately in non-coding regulatory regions of the genome, which control target gene transcription. Many of these risk loci are also linked to skeletal developmental and are associated with adult height and joint shape. However, we still need to identify the target genes of these osteoarthritis-associated regulatory regions to know how these contribute to joint formation and to increase our understanding of osteoarthritis susceptibility.
Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) can now be selectively differentiated in a process that recapitulates the developmental system of limb-bud formation to produce accurate articular pre-chondrocytes, cartilage cells. Importantly, hPSCs are amenable to genome-editing (CRISPR) and CRISPR-mediated gene regulation.
In collaboration with colleagues at the University of Manchester, the student will establish hPSC differentiation protocols and use these cells to generate a 3D genomic interaction map to utilise with established CRISPR-editing, CRISPR-gene-activator and CRISPR-gene-inhibitor systems to functionally define important osteoarthritis regulatory regions and effector genes.
This is an opportunity to work on a highly interdisciplinary project where a successful PhD student will learn fundamental molecular, cell biology and bioinformatic skills. Importantly, they will receive training in stem cell biology with a strong focus on aiming to improve clinical outcomes for patients with common and rarer skeletal diseases.
Supervisors
- David Young (david.young@ncl.ac.uk)
- Louise Reynard (louise.reynard@ncl.ac.uk)
