PhD Studentship: Royal Veterinany College

Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences
Royal Veterinary College

Description and Details:

The successful applicant will join the team of Dr Caroline Pellet-Many who is interested in understanding the role of Neuropilins in heart regeneration using the cryoinjury model of myocardial infarction (MI) in zebrafish.  Using this model that mimics heart attacks in zebrafish, we showed that Neuropilin1 and 2 (nrp1 and nrp2) are upregulated in the regenerating zebrafish heart and that Nrp1a plays a role in the epicardial activation. Little is known about Nrp2’s role in cardiac physiology, yet it is highly expressed by cardiomyocytes and inflammatory cells in zebrafish, rodents, and humans. Our recent transcriptome analysis of murine macrophages demonstrated that NRP1 and NRP2 are differentially expressed in inflammatory and anti-inflammatory macrophages and, accordingly, their knock-out resulted in a differential regulation of major inflammatory pathways.

Therefore, the PhD student will focus on investigating how neuropilins modulate macrophage gene expression and phenotype during heart regeneration.

Qualifications:

Required

• Must meet our standard PhD entry requirements
•  Applicants should have, or expected to obtain, an integrated Master’s (e.g., MSci) with first-class honours or upper division second-class honours (2:1), or a BSc plus Master’s (e.g. MSc, MRes) degree with Merit or Distinction in Biology or related subject.
• Ability to work under own initiative/ independently, strong organisation and communication skills as well as motivation to perform to the highest standards are essential.
• The candidate must have a genuine interest in the cardiovascular field and in regenerative medicine.

Desirable:

• Basic laboratory experience (e.g., PCR/qPCR, histology) and a proven ability to deliver /keep to deadlines is highly desirable.
• Previous experience using the zebrafish model, knowledge about immunofluorescence microscopy and transcriptomics, although not essential, are also highly desirable.

The project relies on the study of the zebrafish model of heart regeneration and therefore the candidate will need to acquire a Personal Home Office license and be willing to work with experimental in vivo models of regeneration.

How to Apply

Apply here