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Research cohorts

The EPSRC University Doctoral Landscape Award funded PhD projects in the Faculty of Medicine are listed below under each mini-cohort. PhD projects within each mini-cohort are aligned to a collaborative, cross-departmental, multi-disciplinary programme of research that integrate the medical and physical sciences.

Computational simulation driven in-vivo microvascular characterisation

Primary supervisor: Dr Andrew Scott, National Lung and Heart Institute
Co-supervisor: Professor Denis Doorly, Department of Aeronautics
Application deadline: TBC

Project title: Computational simulation driven in-vivo microvascular characterisation

Project abstract: TBA

Note: Open to home and international candidates.
Tuition fees will be covered at the EPSRC rate (currently £5,006) and international candidates will be required to cover the remaining fees. International tuition fees are currently £45,850 per annum (in the Faculty of Medicine).

*Investigating cardiac muscle microstructural changes as early marker of cardiac ageing and of cardiac disease development

Primary supervisor: Dr Sonia Nielles-Vallespin, National Lung and Heart Institute
Co-supervisor: Professor Daniel Rueckert, Department of Computing
Co-supervisor: Dr Pedro Ferreira, National Lung and Heart Institute
Application deadline: TBC

Please note:

Open to home and international candidates. Tuition fees will be covered at the EPSRC rate (currently £5,006) and international candidates will be required to cover the remaining fees. International tuition fees are currently £45,850 per annum (in the Faculty of Medicine).
*This project is offered with a departmental studentship, and is not EPSRC funded. The successful candidate for this project will not be eligible for certain EPSRC-funded initiatives outside the PhD. Examples include UKRI Policy Internships and the Royal Institution Internships. However submission to the FoM Dean's PhD Professional Development Awards is permitted to fund other initiatives.

Project title: Investigating cardiac muscle microstructural changes as early marker of cardiac ageing and of cardiac disease development

Project abstract: TBA

Multimodal 3D Reconstruction of the Human Heart to Uncover Links Between Structure, Gene Expression, and Cellular Niches

Primary supervisor: Dr Michela Noseda, National Heart and Lung Institute
Co-supervisor: Dr Chris Cantwell, Department of Aeronautics
Co-supervisor: Dr Sonia Nielles-Vallespin, National Heart and Lung Institute
Application deadline: TBC

Project title: Multimodal 3D Reconstruction of the Human Heart to Uncover Links Between Structure, Gene Expression, and Cellular Niches

Project abstract: TBA

Acoustoelectric Imaging for Transmural Ventricular Activation Mapping and 4D Substrate Characterisation

Primary supervisor: Professor Fu Siong Ng, National Lung and Heart Institute
Co-supervisor: Dr Carlos Cueto, Department of Earth Science and Engineering
Co-supervisor: Professor Mengxing Tang, Department of Bioengineering
Application deadline: TBC

Project title: Acoustoelectric Imaging for Transmural Ventricular Activation Mapping and 4D Substrate Characterisation

Project abstract: TBA

Engineered lipid nanoparticles to deliver therapeutic protein payloads

Primary supervisor: Dr Ravinash Krishna Kumar, Department of Infectious Disease
Co-supervisor: Professor Doryen Bubeck, Department of Life Sciences
Application deadline: TBC

Note: This project is open to home fee status candidates only

Project title: Engineered lipid nanoparticles to deliver therapeutic protein payloads

Project abstract: Lipid-based platforms have transformed our healthcare by therapeutic delivery of drugs to vaccines. However, high doses are often required due to liver clearance and off-target effects. To address this, we have developed 3D-printed multivesicular structures - what we call ‘synthetic tissues’ - that enable localised delivery of therapeutics via integrated stimulus-responsive systems.

While traditionally used nanopores allow controlled release of small molecules, their limited size cutoff (1.5 kDa) restricts protein delivery like cytokines and growth factors. Our goal is to engineer new tools to integrate novel giant nanopores into our synthetic tissues, enabling localised release of larger protein-based therapeutics. Advancing our synthetic tissues has the potential to be a breakthrough technology for smart, local, therapeutic delivery in medicine.

The Development of Synthetic Cell Technologies for Tackling Prostate Cancer

Primary supervisor: Professor Charlotte Bevan, Department of Surgery & Cancer
Co-supervisor: Professor Oscar Ces, Department of Chemistry
Application deadline: TBC

Note: This project is open to home fee status candidates only

Project title: The Development of Synthetic Cell Technologies for Tackling Prostate Cancer

Project abstract: Synthetic cells are minimal, cell-like systems built by bottom-up construction from biomolecules including lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids, functioning as programmable biological nanorobots. They are able to mimic selected cellular behaviors and their precisely defined architecture enables robust control, responsiveness to stimuli, and predictable safety profiles. Therapeutically, synthetic cells have the potential to target diseased tissues by sensing microenvironments, release drugs on cue and locally produce therapeutic agents. This studentship will exploit the exciting therapeutic potential of synthetic cells to tackle advanced prostate cancer (PCa).

Despite increases in overall survival afforded by the development of multiple new treatments PCa remains lethal due to eventual, inevitable treatment resistance. Current therapies are associated with undesirable side-effects and systemic toxicities which decrease compliance and adversely affect patients’ quality of life. Thus, there is an urgent unmet clinical need in inoperable, therapy resistant PCa for the development of innovative treatment strategies with novel mechanisms of action that are effective and well-tolerated. We aim to address this pressing need by loading novel treatment strategies into “synthetic cells” that can respond specifically to the prostate tumour microenvironment to release their payload in a targeted, tumour cell-specific manner.

The project will exploit a variety of techniques to design and make the synthetic cells before going on to test their therapeutic potential. This will include the use of microfluidics, microscopy, automation, AI and machine learning to undertake closed-loop development of synthetic cells including their manufacture and drug loading capabilities.

Extracellular vesicle RNA signatures as biomarkers for in situ activation of synthetic cell therapeutics  

Primary supervisor: Dr Beth Holder, Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction
Co-supervisor: Dr Yuval Elani, Department of Chemical Engineering
Application deadline: TBC

Note: This project is open to home fee status candidates only

Project title: Extracellular vesicle RNA signatures as biomarkers for in situ activation of synthetic cell therapeutics  

Project abstract: We are building a new class of autonomous synthetic cell therapies: engineered systems that read the molecular language of disease and respond only when needed. This project will create synthetic cells capable of detecting RNA signatures carried within extracellular vesicles (EVs) and using them as triggers to produce and release therapeutic outputs in situ. These are treatments that switch on only in the presence of pathological signals, and will constitute a step-change toward precision, self-regulating therapeutics.

Our first application targets a major unmet medical challenge of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV). HCMV infection is a serious risk in transplantation, where viral reactivation leads to severe complications, and it remains a leading cause of congenital disability. Recent evidence shows that circulating EVs transport distinctive RNA fingerprints of viral activity. The long-term vision is a platform generalisable to any disease characterised by a unique EV RNA profile.

This interdisciplinary PhD brings together physical sciences innovation from the Elani Lab with expertise in EV biology from the Holder Lab. You will engineer a synthetic-cell sensing platform built upon the following core technologies: (i) cell-free gene expression for programmable biochemical computation; (ii) Membrane engineering to tune EV/Synthetic Cell interactions (iii) Microfluidic technologies for high-throughput SynCell generation and screening (iv) EV isolation from HCMV-infected cells to provide disease signals for system validation.

We are keen to hear from creative scientists eager to work at the interface of molecular engineering, biomedicine, chemical biology, and synthetic biology. You will thrive here if you’re excited by building entirely new biological systems, and using them to solve biomedical challenges.

Engineering synthetic vesicle platforms for programmable immune training and vaccine delivery 

Primary Supervisor: Professor John Tregoning , Department of Infectious Disease

Co-supervisor: Dr Claudia Contini, Department of Life Sciences

Application deadline: TBC

Note: This project is open to home fee status candidates only

Project title: Engineering synthetic vesicle platforms for programmable immune training and vaccine delivery 

Project abstract: Nanoparticle-based therapeutics face challenges in clinical translation due to unpredictable immune responses driven by protein corona formation. The protein corona, formed upon exposure to biological fluids, modulates immune recognition and determines therapeutic outcomes, yet remains poorly understood and difficult to control.

This project will develop synthetic vesicle platforms to establish quantitative relationships between vesicle physical properties and immune responses. By systematically varying membrane composition, mechanical properties, and surface chemistry, we will map how these parameters influence protein corona composition and subsequent immune cell activation. Proteomic analysis and immunological profiling will identify design rules linking material properties to biological function.

The outcomes will provide a predictive framework for rational nanotherapeutic design, enabling development of vesicle-based vaccines and immunotherapies with controlled immune outcomes.

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