Primary Supervisor: Ben Hall
Secondary supervisor: Sara Hillman
Introduction:
A 4 year funded PhD studentship is available in the Computational Biology of Cancer and Precancer group (https://www.hall-lab.com/), based at UCL’s Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering (https://www.ucl.ac.uk/medical-physics-biomedical-engineering/ucl-medical-physics-and-biomedical-engineering). Funding will be at least the UCL minimum. Stipend details can be found here.
Project Background:
RASopathies are associated with severe conditions that present in utero. These present dangers to both child and mother, and improved prediction of specific conditions such as hydrops fetalis would enabled enhanced monitoring and early intervention for high risk individuals, and reduce costs for monitoring of lower risk individuals. However, siblings carrying the same variants do not necessarily present the with the same conditions. Over the course of the PhD you will develop models that resolve this variability in presentation through the use of network models that consider variants in other pathway members that might compensate for overactive genes and protect the individual. These models will be used to power AI approaches for clinical decision making, through a web based interface designed for clinicians.
Research aims:
Understand the molecular interactions that determine the clinical presentation of RASopathies. This will be achieved through the development of executable models, analysis of databases of gene interaction data, and analysis of patient data.
Application Details
Person specification & requirements:
Experience in computational biology is extremely beneficial. Alternatively demonstratable interest in computational biology and high levels of achievement in either physical/mathematical sciences or life sciences. Excellent communication and team working skills required.
How to apply:
Please complete the following steps to apply.
Please quote Project Code: 23032 in the email subject line.
- Make a formal application to via the UCL application portal accessed via the ‘Apply’ button. Please select the programme code Medical Physics and enter Project Code 23032 under ‘Name of Award 1’
Funding
A full studentship is available for home fee payers.