Pre- Approved Projects

Mode of study

Full-time

Eligibility

Home/EU/OS

Supervisor

Timothy Saunders

Project summary

The vertebrate skeletal muscle forms in distinct segments during development. Each segment consists of striated and aligned muscle fibres. The muscle fibres themselves are differentiated into fast and slow muscle populations. Defects in formation of the skeletal muscle results in a plethora of human diseases. Yet, our understanding of how muscle forms into a very robust structure remains poorly understood.

In this project, we will take advantage of the imaging capabilities of zebrafish to generate live movies of skeletal muscle formation. We will focus on two important questions: (1) what role does actin play in formation of skeletal muscle; and (2) how do the different cell populations interact to ensure robust spatial organisation of the tissue?

For the first part, we have exciting provisional data on how actin dynamics evolve during the process of skeletal muscle formation. There appear to be distinct modes of actin action, that combined ensure precise tissue formation. The student will build on these results in a range of suitable mutant backgrounds. In the second part, we have recently published single cell tracks of how the cell fibres move during skeletal muscle formation. However, how the different fibre types interact mechanically remains poorly understood. We will dissect the 3D cell shape changes during the muscle fibre rearrangements to build up a more thorough understanding of how the cellular mechanical

environment adapts during muscle formation. Relatedly, we will quantify changes in nucleus shape and correlate this with cell behaviours.

This PhD project offers an exciting opportunity to leverage recent advances in live imaging and genetics to gain unprecedented insights into how a critical organ forms during development, with potential impact on human development.

Methodology

This project is a truly interdisciplinary project, ideally suited for either (a) a trained biologist interested in developing their expertise in quantitative approaches or (b) a physicist or engineer (preferably with some optics experience) interested in applying the latest microscopy approaches to important biological systems.

Methodologies required as part of the project:

1)Zebrafish genetics. This will include learning to perform crossing and injections.

2)Live imaging. We will utilise spinning disc, multiphoton microscopy and lattice light-sheet microscopy to gain a subcellular view of how the muscle initially forms

3)Image analysis. Taking data from our microscopy and generating quantitative data is essential. In particular, we want to understand the specific developmental time when morphological changes occur

4)Mechanobiology approaches to understanding cell function and morphology

The Saunders lab is a highly interdisciplinary environment, with biologists and physicists working together to tackle major questions concerning how organs form. This project offers a motivated student the opportunity to learn a breadth of techniques in quantitative biology that have broad applicability.

Mode of Study

Full-Time

Eligibility

Home/EU/OS

Supervisors

Stephen Royle

Project summary

Understanding cell biology means exploring subcellular organization in 3D and locating important proteins at high resolution. Correlative light-electron microscopy (CLEM) is a powerful technique to do this, since we can combine the specificity and dynamics of fluorescence light microscopy (LM) with the high resolution and cellular context of electron microscopy (EM). We are developing genetically encoded tools that allow us to track intracellular events using CLEM. This project will apply our existing tags to new cell biological questions and develop the next generation of CLEM tools. Our lab is interested in several cell biological processes and the probes are useful for all of them. These processes include: cell division, membrane trafficking and cell migration and invasion in cancer.

During your PhD you would:

1.Apply FerriTagging technology to track cellular events by live-cell fluorescence microscopy and visualisation by electron microscopy.

2.Make cell biological discoveries. Our primary interests are in microtubule-associated proteins during mitosis and proteins involved in membrane trafficking.

3.Develop new genetically encoded probes for CLEM that are fluorescent and electron-dense.

Methodology

In this project you will primarily use multi-modal imaging (correlating light microscopy and electron microscopy images) and cell culture. The development of the probes will require molecular biology and cell manipulation methods. All projects in the lab involve quantitative unbiased analysis using automated computational methods.

Mode of Study

Full-time

Eligibility

Home/EU/ Oversea

Supervisors

Karuna Sampath, Rob Cross, Mohan Balasubramanian

Project summary

Tubulins are conserved cytoskeletal proteins with essential roles in intracellular transport, cell division, cell migration and neuronal synapse connectivity.Humans have multiple tubulin genes, and different isotypes. Microtubules are assembled from dimers of α- and β-tubulin. Although proteins within the tubulin superfamily show a high degree of similarity, the phenotypic differences associated with variants in the various tubulin isotypes suggests that each tubulin has a distinctive function. Mutations in human tubuins have been found in patients with a range of brain malformations and other deficits, and are collectively known as tubulinopathies. De novo mutaions in TubulinA3D were found in patients with the degenerative eye disease, Keratoconus.How TubA3D functions in the eye is not understood.In this project, the student will generate corneal cell culture, organoid and animal models of TubA3D mutations and study progression of the disease through high resolution live imaging. The findings from this project have the potential to lead to early diagnostic tests which can aid the development of new therapeutic interventions for the disease.

Methodology

• Genome editing in zebrafish and cell cultur
• Analysis of zebrafish mutant embryos and cultured cells/organoid
• High resolution in vivo time lapse imagin
• Computational analysis of imaging data

We have a keen interest in research relevant to nursing and healthcare. We have experience of patient and public involvement, patient and staff experiences, patient reported outcomes and getting evidence into practice.We have experience of quantitative, qualitative and mixed methodologies.

Student are welcome to approach us for PhD supervision in any of these areas. Please email to make an appointment to discuss your interests.

Kate.seers@warwick.ac.uk (qualitative, mixed methods, pain, getting evidence into practice, patient/staff experiences)

Sophie.Staniszewska@warwick.ac.uk (patient and public involvement, patient experiences)

Kirstie.haywood@warwick.ac.uk (patient reported outcomes)

Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods

Mode of Study

Full-Time/Part-Time

Healthcare for common mental health problems is often delivered remotely via a range of digital channels, using audio, audio-visual and/or text/images. This can be as effective as face-to-face delivery. Many patients like the accessibility and importantly, the ability to engage with healthcare in a space where they feel comfortable, for example, their bedroom or car. Receipt of this care can remain hidden from all other people, including those close to the recipient. In our previous research on teleconsulting, care users and providers told us remote delivery is an advantage as it reduces the fear and/or experience of stigma related to mental health, particularly among population groups where this stigma remains strong. Our more recent ethics-framed re-examination of this issue hypothesised the opposite – increased fear and/or experience of stigma because the mental healthcare is hidden.

This PhD will test this hypothesis through empirical mixed methods research among a range of population groups in the UK, including those where stigma remains strong. The research will explore and evaluate the interaction of stigma and remote care delivery. It will bring together multidisciplinary perspectives – clinical, ethical and social science. Methods will include public engagement activities, surveys among a range of population groups, interviews with those with experience of living with a common mental health problem and workshops with citizen groups. The completed PhD will provide an in-depth understanding of stigma in relation to mental health for the digital age and recommend how health services and society respond.

Methods will include public engagement activities, surveys among a range of population groups, interviews with those with experience of living with a common mental health problem and workshops with citizen groups. The research will be undertaken in the UK and potentially in a contrasting national context, for example a middle-income country.

Full-Time/Part-Time

The use of telemedicine – health care delivered digitally with health worker and patient remote from each other – is increasing in sub-Saharan Africa for ambulatory care provision. Our earlier work has demonstrated this can be safe and trustworthy when health workers have relevant training. However, health workers raised ethical concerns including potential impact on inequalities, stigma, and the duty and burden of care. The role and value of telemedicine within patient diagnostic and treatment pathways remains underspecified.

In this PhD project, the candidate will undertake case studies of ambulatory patient pathways in one or more sub-Saharan African country. Decisions on which case studies to undertake will be guided by the PhD candidate’s interests and after initial systematic evidence review and synthesis, and the potential for influencing digital health policy and practice.

The case studies will consider the patient pathway as the bridge between the community and the health system and consider the needs of and implications for those involved in the pathway and those within the community and wider health system. The candidate will work within both the rights-based approach and the Ubuntu approach to the ethics of health care delivery.

Suitable candidates will have a social science or health/clinical science background or similar, and a willingness to work across disciplines.

Systematic evidence review and synthesis will guide the choice of case studies.

A realist approach will underpin the empirical work. Data collection methods will include community engagement, mini-surveys, observation and interview with patients and health workers and key informant interviews.

Full-Time/Part-Time

Home/EU/OS

Bronwyn Harris, Frances Griffiths

Increasingly, drones are being used in health systems around the world, including in Sub-Saharan Africa. Able to bypass geographical, transport, cost and time-critical barriers, they can strengthen the health supply chain, to deliver medications, blood, organs, devices and essential supplies for emergencies and everyday healthcare. Often incorporating AI, drones can also support public and environmental health with geospatial mapping, aerial surveillance and modelling (e.g. in disease prevention and outbreak control). Because they can reach around pathogens, difficult terrains and ground traffic, their use in remote, rural or congested urban areas, or during pandemics/environmental hazards, provides opportunity to enhance efficiency and equity in healthcare services. This makes them an attractive option for governments, especially in contexts where quality healthcare remains a critical challenge. However, drones are also an emerging technology in warfare, carrying bombs and weapons, disrupting airspace, and threatening communities and states. Additionally, their commercial and for-profit use in health industries presents ethical and legal issues around data protection, security and regulation. As public health systems turn to (rapidly evolving) digitisation to support sustainable development and deliver universal health coverage, it is important to critically examine associated health, social and ethical issues.

This doctoral study will explore the 'place' of drones in health and social systems in Sub-Saharan Africa. It will examine their use and acceptability (or not) for communities, healthcare workers, decision-makers and otherstakeholders in health and technology sectors. Guided by the candidate’s interests, a case study approach will be undertaken in selected communities in Sub-Saharan Africa to explore the health, social and ethical implications of drone use in healthcare.

Suitable candidates will have a background in the social sciences, public health, digital technology or similar. They will be willing to work across disciplines and must be available to undertake fieldwork in the Sub-Saharan case study settings selected.

This doctoral study will use case study methodology to explore the use and experience of drones in healthcare in selected settings in Sub-Saharan Africa. Cases will be selected around the candidate’s interests. Methods will likely include:

·A systematic review of evidence to synthesise knowledge and lessons about drone use in healthcare in low-resource settings and to inform case selection.

·Geospatial and temporal mapping of drone use in selected sites.

·Community-based case building through document and policy review, qualitative interviews and focus groups, mini-surveys and dairies to explore community perceptions and experiences of drones.

Stakeholder engagements,

workshops and discussions about drones in healthcare (with community and patient representatives, local health workers, and decision-makers in health and technology).

Full-Time/Part-Time

Home/EU/OS

Bronwyn Harris, Frances Griffiths, Dr Skye Adams (University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa)

Globally, children living with disabilities are at much greater risk of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition than their peers. Approximately, 16% of the global population are disabled and majority living in low- and middle-income countries with limited access to necessary support. In Sub-Saharan Africa, these vulnerabilities are intensified due to poverty, limited access to services, and exclusion from mainstream nutrition initiatives. The food environment influences the demand, supply and consumption of food in everyday contexts, working at a local level to shape what food is available, how and why. It is a key determinant of nutrition for children with disabilities, affecting caregivers’ food choices, knowledge and practices. Increasingly, technology, social media, and online marketing are transforming these environments, influencing what foods are available, desirable, and affordable. However, little is known about how digital food environments in Sub-Saharan Africa affect families of children with disabilities, or how they might be leveraged to build inclusive and healthy food systems.

Adopting an intersectional lens, this doctoral study will examine how social, economic, and environmental factors interact to influence food access, caregiver decision-making, and child nutrition. The study will follow a mixed-methods, participatory approach to capture the complexity of food environments for children with disabilities and their carers. Working in Soweto, a diverse urban community in South Africa, the candidate will map the digital food environment for children with disabilities and use participatory methods to co-design a contextually relevant intervention to support families in managing food insecurity and improving nutritional outcomes.

Suitable candidates will have a background in the social sciences, public health, dietetics or similar. They will be willing to work across disciplines and must be available to undertake fieldwork in Soweto.

The study will adopt a mixed-methods, participatory design approach, integrating qualitative, spatial, and digital research methods to capture the complexity of food environments for children with disabilities in Soweto, South Africa. Methods will be developed around the candidate’s interests but are likely to include:

·A systematic review of evidence to synthesise how digital food environments affect children with disabilities and their families, and identify examples of inclusive and equitable food system practices.

·Qualitative methods: semi-structured interviews with caregivers, community workers, and food vendors—to explore food access, feeding practices, and perceptions of digital tools.

·GIS mapping and mobile ethnographyto document food access patterns for caregivers of children with developmental disabilities.

Methods using real-time data collection (grocery items, mealtime photos) and culturally tailored digital content will be explored to inform the co-design and prototyping of a contextually relevant digital intervention.