UCL Ear Institute

Stipend: £16,380 per annum

Duration of Studentship: 3 years

This is an opportunity for a 3 year funded PhD studentship to work on a project entitled "Ear bioengineering for the reconstruction of congenital ear malformations with patient-derived somatic stem cells" under the supervision of Professor Martin Birchall (UCL Ear Institute) and Dr Patrizia Ferretti (UCL Institute of Child Health).  Work will be undertaken at the Ear Institute and in the laboratories at the Institute of Child Health. 

Studentship Description

Background: 1/1000 live births has a severe facial defect that can worsen with development. Surgery is the main treatment to improve function and appearance. Reconstructive procedures, however, are technically challenging and invasive, and often require multiple operations, which can adversely affect patients both physically and psychologically. The successful development of tissue-engineered, cellularised viable implants that can permanently integrate in the host structure would decrease both morbidity and the incidence of implant failure.

Aim: To harness the plasticity of autologous somatic stem cells, particularly paediatric human adipose tissue-derived stem cells (hADSCs), and use them to construct novel bioscaffolds for more effective craniofacial repair in children with congenital abnormalities with a focus on ear cartilage reconstruction in children and adults.

The student will use cellular and molecular techniques and tissue engineering approaches to:

• increase our understanding of the plasticity of human somatic stem cells, with a focus on adipose tissue-derived stem cells (hADSC), and their value for autologous cell therapy.
• determine which of the two approaches for bioscaffold construction to be investigated (scaffolds based on "reconstructed" decellularised tissue and nanoscaffolds) can better support formation of hADSC-derived cartilage, and would be more suitable for scaling up to move from the bench to the bed-side.

Findings from this study will be relevant to the management of craniofacial defects.

Person Specification

We are looking for an enthusiastic and well-motivated student to work with us in this exciting area of research. Applicants should have, or expect to receive, a first class or an upper second class honours degree in a relevant subject area. They should have a keen interest in cross-disciplinary research bridging the gap between biological, medical and material sciences. Previous experience in cell biology and tissue engineering is desirable but not essential.

Eligibility

Due to funding restrictions the post is only open to UK/EU citizens.

How to apply

• Please send covering letter, CV and 2 references to Mrs Anne Oliphant, RNTNE, 330 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1X 8DA,  a.oliphant@ucl.ac.uk
• If you would like further information about the studentship, please contact either Dr Ferretti (p.ferretti@ucl.ac.uk) or Prof Birchall (m.birchall@ucl.ac.uk)

Closing date for applications is 28 June 2013

Studentship start date: September 2013

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