Inflammatory signalling in Alzheimer's disease
To start: 1st October 2018
Award: Fully funded Alzheimer’s Research UK PhD Scholarship
Project:
Neuroinflammation is a prominent feature of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) brain that is believed to modulate disease onset and/or progression. Activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome and NFκB-mediated transcription of inflammatory cytokines act in conjunction to cause inflammatory responses in the periphery and central nervous system. The purinoceptor, P2X7R, lies upstream of both NLRP3 and NFκB inflammatory signalling and so represents a key regulator of inflammatory responses.
The aim of this project is to better elucidate the contribution of P2X7R receptor-mediated inflammatory signalling to AD. P2X7R expression will be examined in post-mortem control and AD brain to determine the spatial pattern of P2X7R activation relative to Aβ and pathological tau accumulation, and the association between P2X7R upregulation and local inflammatory responses. A library of P2X7R antagonists will be screened to determine which are the most effective in reducing inflammatory responses in microglia and astrocytes. The most active compounds will be further studied in organotypic brain slice cultures prepared from transgenic models of AD.
The student will acquire cutting-edge cell culture and molecular biology techniques and will use state-of-the-art microscopy equipment available to us in our Nikon Imaging Centre. The student will join a leading AD research team, based in the newly established Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute.
Supervisors: Dr Wendy Noble and Dr Beatriz Perez-Nievas
Entry requirements:
Applicants should have a Bachelors degree with 2:1 honours. A 2:2 degree may be considered only where applicants also offer a Masters with Merit.
Award types and eligibility:
The award covers a PhD stipend (£17K p.a.), tuition fees at home/EU rate, costs towards travel expenses and laboratory consumables.
This studentship is only available to Home/EU fee status students.
How to apply:
Applicants must complete and submit an online admissions application, via the admissions portal by midnight (23:59 GMT) on 31st May 2018.
On the ‘Choosing a programme’ page, please select ‘Research degrees’ and enter the keyword Neuroscience Research MPhil/PhD.
In your application, you will be asked to include:
- Academic Transcripts – where applicable, academic transcripts must be submitted with the online admissions application
- Details of your qualifications (you will need to attach copies)
- Details of previous employment
- A personal statement describing your interests and why you wish to apply for this project. Please include this as an attachment rather than using the text box.
- Academic References – all admissions applications require two supporting references. If the applicant is relying on his/her referees to submit references directly to the College after he/she has submitted his/her admissions application, then the applicant must ensure that their chosen referees are made aware of the funding deadline.
In the Funding section, please tick box 5 and include the following reference: WNBPG-IOPPN-ARUK-18
Please note there is no need to complete the Research Proposal section in your application as the project has already been set.
You are welcome to email Dr Wendy Noble or Dr Beatriz Perez-Nievas (supervisor) for more information regarding the project and studentship.
If you have any queries regarding the application process, please contact Lauren Soules, the Postgraduate research Administrative Assistant.
References must be received by the deadline for the applicant to be eligible.
Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.
Closing Date: Thursday 31st May 2018 (23:59 GMT)
Interviews: Friday 15th June 2018
Further information:
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/ioppn/depts/bcn/Our-research/Neurodegeneration/wendy-noble-neurodegeneration/Index.aspx