MRC AIM Doctoral Training Partnership

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Medicine
Location:  UK Other
Closing Date:  Friday 12 January 2024
Reference:  MED1982

The AIM (Advanced Inter-Disciplinary Models) DTP is funded by the MRC between three Partners – the Universities of Birmingham, Leicester and Nottingham – and three more Associate Partners – the Research Complex at Harwell, Mary Lyon Centre and Rosalind Franklin Institute. We have a range of exciting and diverse PhD 4-year projects at all 3 partner Institutions which are now open for a September 2024 start and those available at The University of Nottingham are detailed below.

Projects with an industry partner (iCASE projects) offer a unique opportunity to undertake translational research and come with a mandatory placement requirement and an enhanced stipend.

Full information about funding of these projects and application details, including application form plus Equality, diversity and inclusion form are available at https://more.bham.ac.uk/mrc-aim/phd-opportunities/ .

The deadline for submitting applications is 12.00 am GMT, Friday, 12 January 2024. Interviews will take place during the week commencing 26 February and will be held via Zoom.  

Applicants must hold, or be about to obtain, a First or Upper Second class UK honours degree, or the equivalent qualifications gained outside the UK, in a relevant subject. A master’s qualification in a related area could be beneficial, as could additional relevant research experience.

Full details can be found on the MRC website.

Please submit your application for University of Nottingham projects to [email protected] .

School of Medicine

Project Title Development of an optimised contractile strategy to improve the muscle health of older surgical cancer patients

Supervisors: Bethan Phillips, [email protected] , Leigh Breen (UoB), Jon Lund (UoN), Eleanor Jones (UoN)

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Following surgery for cancer, older patients lose significant muscle mass and function due to the physiological insult of surgery and physical inactivity in the postoperative period. These losses cause delayed recovery from surgery and return to normal activities and are associated with significant physical and psychological upset. Although exercise rehabilitation after surgery is recommended, and sometimes delivered, this does not begin until the surgical wound has healed- several weeks after surgery. Similarly, although exercise prehabilitation has shown great potential, many older adults are unable to complete this. Emerging evidence suggests that a single bout of resistance exercise (sRET) before surgery may have potential to reduce postoperative losses of muscle mass and function in older cancer patients. However, how this strategy may be optimised, including interactions with nutrition is not yet known. This PhD will use state-of-the-art mass-spectrometry and novel imaging techniques to: i) identify the best form of sRET to promote muscle anabolism during subsequent immobilisation; ii) determine the impact of adjuvant protein nutrition on sRET-induced anabolism; and iii) determine the impact of optimised sRET in older colorectal cancer patients. This project will provide the successful candidate with varied skills and experience across the translational research pathway (i.e., bench-to-bedside).