Funding
Self-funded
Project code
PHBM5361025
Department
School of Medicine, Pharmacy and Biomedical SciencesStart dates
October, February and April
Application deadline
Applications accepted all year round
Applications are invited for a self-funded, 3 year full-time or 6 year part-time PhD project.
The PhD will be based in the School of of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences and be jointly supervised by Dr David Rusling.
The goal of this project is to:
- Establish a developmental pipeline for producing triplex-forming oligonucleotides capable of mediating gene silencing/repression in a cellular setting
- Validate the pipeline by demonstrating the targeted knockdown of specific cancer oncogenes.
Synthetic oligonucleotides are short strands of DNA that can be used to treat or manage a wide range of diseases, for example by silencing specific genes. In recent years, various oligonucleotides have made it through clinical trials and have now reached the clinic to some fanfare. They often elicit their affects via antisense or RNAi mechanisms by acting on messenger RNA molecules and modulating protein levels inside the cell. Although this has been hugely successful, a better strategy, at least in principle, would be to use oligonucleotides to target genomic DNA directly and prevent messenger RNA expression altogether. Oligonucleotides that might prove useful in this manner are known as triplex-forming oligonucleotides, on account of their binding to specific gene sequences and generating a triplex structure. Our research group has recently overcome a long-standing problem associated with these molecules using . We are now at the stage of developing them as gene-targeting agents for use inside living cells and have received funding from the Academy of Medical Sciences for post-doctoral research in this area.
Fees and funding
Visit the research subject area page for fees and funding information for this project.
Funding availability: Self-funded PhD students only.
PhD full-time and part-time courses are eligible for the UK (UK and EU students only – eligibility criteria apply).
Bench fees
Some PhD projects may include additional fees – known as bench fees – for equipment and other consumables, and these will be added to your standard tuition fee.
Entry Requirements
You'll need a good first degree from an internationally recognised university (minimum upper second class or equivalent, depending on your chosen course) or a Master’s degree or a related area. In exceptional cases, we may consider equivalent professional experience and/or qualifications. English language proficiency at a minimum of IELTS band 6.5 with no component score below 6.0.
How to apply
We strongly encourage you to contact Dr David Rusling (david.rusling@port.ac.uk) to discuss your research interest before you apply, quoting the project code.
When you are ready to apply, please follow the 'Apply now' link on the Pharmacy, Pharmacology and Biomedical Sciences PhD subject area page and select the link for the relevant intake. Make sure you submit a personal statement, proof of your degrees and grades, details of two referees, proof of your English language proficiency and an up-to-date CV. Our ‘How to Apply’ page offers further guidance on the PhD application process.
When applying please quote project code: PHBM5351024