Executive Dean鈥檚 PhD Studentship in Mimicking Laminopathies: the impact of disease-specific Lamin A mutations in peripheral chromatin organisation and nuclear envelope function

CHMLS at 小湿妹视频 London is offering a fully funded PhD studentship to investigate the effects of lamin A mutations, relevant in laminopathies, in inducing alterations to the nuclear envelope. The project will focus on lamin A mutations most prevalent in Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome, Familial Partial Lipodystrophies and Dilated Cardiomyopathies, and employ genome-wide and high-resolution imaging techniques to study how the mutations affect the nuclear lamina and nuclear pore complexes’ structure and function, specifically the organisation of chromatin at the nuclear periphery. This project will also generate new model cell-lines for analysing new, repurposed and gene editing treatments.

Based in and funded by the College of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, this studentship offers a full-time annual London rate stipend estimated at £20,551 plus Home/EU tuition fees, for a maximum of 36 months. Bench fees are supported by the studentship up to £5000/pa.

The Department of Life Sciences holds a Silver Athena SWAN Award and is committed to equality of opportunity and advancing women’s careers.

The start date will be 1st October 2023.

Overview

The nuclear envelope (NE) is composed of the nuclear lamina and associated proteins, and intercalated by nuclear pore complexes (NPC). These two structures have a high degree of communication and are both involved in anchoring and regulating gene expression. Lamin A mutations have been studied in the context of nuclear shape, gene expression alterations and chromatin repositioning but we do not yet understand the full impact on the overall reshaping of the NE (including NPC structure and function) and the subsequent regulation of peripheral chromatin. Equipped with high resolution imaging and genomic techniques the project will assess how specific disease-related lamin A mutations impact NE and chromatin associations.

The successful candidate will be supervised by an expert interdisciplinary team of researchers from the Centre of Genome Engineering and Maintenance and the Cardiovascular and Metabolic Group, with primary supervision from Prof Jo Bridger in laminopathies and bioimaging, secondary supervision from Dr Ines Castro in genomics and nuclear biology, and bioinformatic and data analysis from Dr Raha Pazoki, the Research Development Advisor.

For informal discussions, please contact Prof Joanna Bridger on Joanna.Bridger@brunel.ac.uk or Dr Ines Castro on ines.castro@brunel.ac.uk.

Eligibility

Candidates should have an undergraduate degree (first or upper second class) or equivalent qualification in Biosciences or a related field. A Masters qualification would be desirable. Laboratory Experience (i.e. in Tissue Culture, PCR, Indirect Immunofluorescence, Bioimaging) is essential and an interest in genomic approaches is desirable. Applicants who have not been awarded a degree by a University in the UK will be expected to demonstrate English language skills to IELTS 7.0 (minimum 6.5 in any section).

How to apply

If you wish to apply, please e-mail the following to chmls-pgr-officestaff@brunel.ac.uk by 7 June 2023.

An up-to-date CV.
A single-page A4 single-spaced personal statement describing why you are a suitable candidate (i.e. outlining your qualifications and skills).
One example of your academic writing (e.g. an essay, a section from a dissertation).
A summary of your teaching experience or your willingness to support teaching activities.
Names and contact details for two academic referees.
A copy of your highest degree certificate and transcript.
A copy of your English language qualification, where applicable.

Short-listed applicants will be required to attend an interview week commencing 3^rd July 2023.

For further information about how to apply, please contact the College of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences Postgraduate Programmes Office on chmls-pgr-officestaff@brunel.ac.uk.

Meet the Supervisor(s)

Raha Pazoki - Raha Pazok MD PhD FHEA is a medical doctor and an epidemiologist. She studied Epidemiology at the Netherlands Institute for Health Sciences (NIHES) and in the University of Amsterdam. She worked with various cohort and case control studies such as the Arrhythmia Genetics in the Netherlands (AGNES), the Rotterdam 小湿妹视频, the Airwave Health Monitoring 小湿妹视频 and the UK Bio bank. In 2016, she joined the Department of Epidemiology and Bio-statistics at Imperial College London as a Research Associate. In 2020, she started a Teaching & Research academic position at 小湿妹视频 London. Dr Pazoki specializes in the field of health data research, with a primary focus on the epidemiology of cardiometabolic diseases. She holds a particular interest in exploring causal inference and precision medicine by leveraging genomics and extensive health data sets with sample sizes exceeding 500,000 individuals. Her expertise spans various domains, including precision medicine, global health, interventions, and the application of artificial intelligence for predicting health outcomes. She harbors a keen interest in identification of the relationship between circulating molecules and biomarkers, nutrition, lifestyle choices, genetic factors, and their collective contribution to the modulation of health risk factors and outcomes. She was the first to identify 517 novel genetic loci associated with liver enzymes and the first to show the causal effect of liver dysfunction on cardiovascular diseases. In addition, she is the first to show the effect of the alcohol consumption WDPCP gene in lipid metabolism, and liver cirrhosis.