PhD studentship opportunities in Life-Course Pathways in Health and Wellbeing

We are pleased to announce an opportunity for a 3-year PhD studentship in Public Health within the School of Public Health at Imperial College London, funded by the London Interdisciplinary Social Sciences Doctoral Training Partnership (LISS DTP). Applications are invited from individuals who wish to develop a career in academic public health.

About the Project

This project will start on October 1st 2022 in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, with Betatechnology Ltd  Partnership. The primary supervisor is  Professor Marjo-Riitta Jarvelin. The student will be co-supervised by Dr Georgina Hosang (Queen Mary, University London) and Dr Evangelia Tzala (Imperial College London, ICL). The student will be based in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Group of Longitudinal Studies.   The project is offered as  a +3 (PhD). The specific route will depend on the student's previous training, in particular if they meet the ESRC's core research methods training requirements, see here.

Our researchers are uniquely placed to lead collaborative projects nationally and internationally, producing high quality research in selected areas (see below) and working in collaboration with academic partners (e.g. MRC Toxicology Unit at the University of Cambridge), health and environmental agencies (e.g. US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization, the Environment Agency, Transport for London) and industry (e.g. Bosch, Dyson Ltd, JCB) to translate this knowledge into policy and improve population health.

A key focus of our mission and strategy is to train and develop the next generation of academic and policy leaders in the field of environment and health research. Successful PhD candidates will be supported by a leading bespoke training programme to ensure they are equipped with the appropriate skills and experience to become first class researchers.

PROJECT SUMMARY

Project summary

Dynamic interpersonal, biological, psychological and (health) behavioural systems interact with broader contextual factors (“micro/macro-systems”, e.g. family’s social circumstances and functioning, wealth, poverty, health care, work environments), to shape health-related ageing and wellbeing over the life span. We seek to unravel pathways through which psychosocial factors impact the ageing process through the lifecourse. We will approach health as a dynamic system and capture fluctuation over time from prenatal period until middle age. We hypothesize that socioeconomic distress and psychosocial adversities (e.g. poverty, low education, mental distress) may be both risk factors for, and consequences of, metabolic adversities such as obesity that promote risk of developing long-term health conditions including adult-onset diabetes (type 2 diabetes, T2D). This is creating a vicious cycle of ill-health  that affects people’s wellbeing, quality of life and can lead to accelerated ageing process and premature mortality. The importance of bio-psychosocial model, in theory and practice, will be investigated to promote healthy ageing. Our project will be embedded in social science conceptual framework, its theories will be reviewed during the studies.

Ageing represents the accumulation of changes in a human being over lifespan and can encompass physical, psychological, behavioural and social aspects. The mechanisms of ageing process are not well understood but are assigned to the damage in the body that may lead biological systems to fail. In clinical medicine and social science context ageing can be defined and assessed in multiple ways e.g. by cognition, perception of health and wellbeing and disease development.

Ageing will be assessed broadly and will not only include ageing associated diseases and their intermediate markers (e.g. T2D, glucose levels, obesity) but also physical and cognitive function as an indicator of mental deterioration, subjective wellbeing and mental health (particularly depression), quality of life (QoL) indicators, life- satisfaction, socioeconomic circumstances  and participation in the work force. The newly developed, novel Bayesian statistics based analytical approach that we adopt, embedded in dynamic systems, allows integration of hundreds – thousands of factors. Depending on the context the same factor maybe an outcome or it can be an exposure in the pathway analysis. In this project, we will restrict disease exploration on conditions essential for public health, i.e. T2D and related factors (glucose, body mass index) known to contribute to or mimic the ageing process. T2D that is exponentially increasing in the populations is a good “model disease” in this context. High glucose levels, even without T2D, may contribute to vascular damage and lead to dementia.

 

ELIGIBILITY

Essential Criteria

Applicants should have a good undergraduate degree (2:1 or first class) in biosciences, social medicine, social biostatistics  or a related field. When applying for the +3 studentship, the student should have a Masters degree (Merit or above) in relevant area and training in quantitive research methods.  Additional training in qualitative research is an advantage

Training and/or an interest in biostatistics, epidemiology and longitudinal data modelling.

Excellent communication skills and an ability to work independently and as part of a multidisciplinary international team.

Desirable criteria

Experience with working in large scale datasets.

Experience with methodological software (e.g. R, Matlab)

Public health or medical training.

Studentships include funding for Home tuition fees and a stipend of £17,609 per annum.

  • All UK/EU/International candidates are eligible to apply for these studentships. 
  • International candidates (i.e. all non-UK nationals) that are successfully awarded one of these studentships should refer to the Funding Notes below.

APPLICATION

The application form can be Downloaded here.

If you have any questions about the project and studentship email to Dr. Evangeliua Tzala (e.tzala@imperial.ac.uk).  Interested candidates should apply by emailing the following documents to  XXXXX

Applicants are not expected to have confirmed a PhD supervisor or project before applying, but should provide in their personal statement a clear description of the research area they wish to pursue during their PhD and select at least two projects from the list above as examples of research they would be interested in. Please note that we cannot guarantee that successful candidates will be assigned to their selected projects. 

Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Application should include the following:

  1. An up-to-date CV
  2. A personal statement including why you are interested in undertaking the project, what relevant skills, training and knowledge you would bring to the project; and any ideas you have for executing the named project (max 1 page)
  3. A completed application form. Download above.
  4. Academic transcripts
  5. Contact details for 2 referees, at least one of which should be a recent academic referee.

We strongly encourage applications from UK students from ethnic minority and underrepresented groups in biosocial sciences.

The closing date for applications is Monday 28th February 2022.  

Shortlisted candidates will be contacted to arrange interviews, which will take place in the week commencing March 14, 2022. Due to the high number of applications, we will not be able to respond to individual candidates.

The successful candidate will be asked to complete an Advanced DBS check upon commencing the post.

The MRC Centre and is committed to equality of opportunity, to eliminating discrimination and to creating an inclusive working environment. 

Funding Notes

Note for non-UK applicants: The ESRC permits the funding of international students in the 2022 cohort (up to a total of 30% of the cohort can be international students). The LISS DTP will award up to 3 International CASE Studentship Awards (30% of our total CASE Studentships for 2022 Entry).