CLOSED - Casting new light on tissue function with phase-based x-ray microscopy (23013)

Primary Supervisor: Prof Sandro Olivo

Secondary Supervisors: Prof Paolo De Coppi, Dr Michela Esposito

A 4 year funded PhD studentship is available in the UCL Department of Medical Physics and biomedical Engineering, in collaboration with the Institute of Child Health.

Funding will be at least the UCL minimum. Stipend details can be found here.

The successful candidate will join the UCL CDT in Intelligent, Integrated Imaging in Healthcare (i4health) cohort and benefit from the activities and events organised by the centre

Background:

Tissue at the microscopic (single cell) level is studied with light or electron microscopy and with histology. Light/electron microscopy are affected by limitations in penetration depth, which hinders the ability to produce true 3D volumes of extended specimens. Electron microscopy requires significant sample preparation, and staining protocols are used also in light microscopy methods. Histology is destructive and inherently 2D; producing 3D volumes is expensive and time consuming (the entire volume must be sliced and every slice digitised), achieving isotropic resolution is virtually impossible, and tissue cutting leads to distortions and artefacts.

3D x-ray microscopy can solve these issues; however, conventional x-rays have limited soft-tissue contrast, and only a few laboratory-based x-ray microscopy systems exist, which are expensive, cumbersome, require long exposure times and feature extremely small (~100 mm) fields-of-view.

The advent of phase-based x-ray imaging can change all this, as it provides exquisite soft-tissue contrast with no staining agents. One unique such instrument has been developed by the AXIm group, and the student will use it to spearhead a new generation of biomedical studies in which e.g. tumour microenvironment and scaffold-tissue integration are studied in large, hydrated, unstained samples in their native state, in 3D and with single-cell resolution.

Research Aims:

The aims of this project are to improve the performance of the AXIm phase-based x-ray microscope, and to use it to address biomedical questions that are currently unanswered.

Biomedical collaborators are directly involved in the project, with one of them being a co-supervisor: the student will therefore be exposed to a series of areas of investigation, e.g. understanding cell-scaffold interactions in tissue engineering or the development of tumoroids in tissue cultures. The student will be encouraged to seek additional areas of exploration if they so wish and will ultimately choose the targeted areas supported by expert advice from the supervising team.

Person specification & requirements:

A first degree in physics or engineering would be preferred, however candidates from other potentially relevant backgrounds (e.g. biomedical sciences) will be considered if they can show the right level of commitment and interest.

A full studentship is available for Home fee applicants. Overseas fee payers will be considered but they must have secured a separate scholarship that can cover the fee difference between Home Fee and the Overseas fee.

UCL’s fee eligibility criteria can a be found by following this link.

Application Deadline: 25th August 2023

• Send an expression of interest and current CV to: a.olivo@ucl.ac.uk and cdtadmin@ucl.ac.uk .Please quote Project Code:  23013 in the email subject line.
• Make a formal application to via the UCL application portal https://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/graduate/apply . Please select the programme code Medical Imaging TMRMEISING01 and enter Project Code 23013 under ‘Name of Award 1’

Application Process:

• After the deadline, all applicants that specified Project 23013 and with a Portico application will be considered for interview.
• Candidates will normally be invited for interview within two-weeks of the deadline. If you have not been contacted within this time-period, you have unfortunately not been successful in being shortlisted.
• The interview panel will normally consist of the supervision team on the project and the CDT Director.
• The interview will normally consist of a short presentation (5-10mins) by the candidate followed by questions from a panel.
• The successful candidate will be informed by email and given a week to confirm whether they wish to accept the PhD place and funding.
• Note that applications without specifying the project they are applying for and/or making a formal Portico application will be automatically rejected.
• Once accepted, a formal UCL offer of admission will be sent to the applicant as well as an offer of studentship funding.