Oxford Brookes University PhD Research Studentship
Non-targeted Effects of Ionising Radiation Exposure – The Role of Epigenetic Mechanisms
Oxford Brookes University -Faculty of Health and Life Sciences
Supervisor: Professor Munira Kadhim
Eligibility: Home, EU and international students are eligible to apply.
Applicants should be of the highest quality and capable of submitting a PhD thesis within 3 years. Applicants require a good Honours degree level equivalent to a UK degree BSc (minimum 2.1 or higher).
International applicant’s - additional application requirements.
You must provide with your e-mail application a scanned copy of your English language test certificate. Applicant’s must have a valid IELTS Test certificate minimum score level 6 in each of the four areas of reading, writing, listening and speaking with overall minimum score 7.0 or acceptable equivalent. The test certificate must not be older than two years.
Start date week beginning 16th September 2013
Value p.a.: Bursary of £13,726 for 2013/14 & fees
Closing Date: 15th March 2013, with interviews in April.
Application’s will only be accepted by e-mail to the Research Administrator at the following e-mail address hlsapplications@brookes.ac.uk
Please complete the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences PhD Research Studentship Application Form which you should download from the following site;-
Additionally with your e-mail application you should enclose a CV
Please refer to guidance notes that accompany the downloadable application form.
Please carefully note that applicant’s who are chosen to attend a final selection interview, which may be by SKYPE, will be asked to supply two academic references. Our standard referee form will be provided AT THIS STAGE. We will also require AT THIS STAGE copies of certified educational certificates/transcripts.
Further information on the project description only please e-mail:
Professor Munira Kadhim e-mail – mkadhim@brookes.ac.uk
Project Summary
Radiation can initiate a number of cellular changes that resemble those observed during tumour development. These changes often occur in a delayed manner, and in cells that were never irradiated; such changes have been collectively termed non-targeted effects (NTE), and include genomic instability (GI) and bystander effects (BE). Both GI and BE are observed after environmentally-relevant and diagnostic doses of radiation with an individual susceptibility. The mechanisms underlying GI and BE are yet to be fully defined, and may involve a number of pathways leading to the final endpoint of DNA damage. Small communication molecules, such as exosomes, as well as lysosomal perturbation have been suggested to have a contributory role in radiation-induced DNA damage, with numerous studies pointing toward an epigenetic driven mechanism. By combining cytogenetic and molecular techniques the proposed project is intended to test this hypothesis and develop a theory to explain the driving mechanisms of NTE. As a result the project will be able to develop multi-scale systems-biology models for epigenetic mechanisms of NTE and contribute to their conceptualisation covering both the classical direct and non-targeted effects.
As part of their Studentship, students will be required to undertake up to 6 hours undergraduate teaching per week during semesters without further remuneration. You will be expected to participate in a course to develop your teaching skills and to be involved in demonstrating, including use of numerical and statistical methods.
Post a Comment