Dear ALLSTAT Members,



As part of the JNPD-funded European consortium project DOMINO-HD<https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/view/1391713-digital-technology-in-management-of-huntingtons> we offer a fully funded PhD studentship at Cardiff University commencing in October 2019. The title of the project is: "Identification and modelling of causal genetic and environmental factors for Huntington's Disease severity and progression." The student will model the interplay between genetic and environmental risk factors and clinical outcomes in a longitudinal cohort of 300 manifest and pre-manifest HD gene carriers (further details below), supervised by Prof Peter Holmans<https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/people/view/78788-holmans-peter>, Dr Philip Pallmann<http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/people/view/975927-pallmann-philip>, Prof Anne Rosser<https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/people/view/61054-rosser-anne> and Prof Monica Busse<https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/people/view/39294-busse-monica>.



This 3-year studentship is open to UK and EU candidates without further restrictions and covers full UK/EU tuition fees and a doctoral stipend matching the UK Research Council national minimum. Applicants should possess a minimum of an upper second class Honours degree, master's degree, or equivalent in a relevant subject i.e. a degree in mathematics/statistics/computing or similar, or alternatively a degree in life sciences/medicine with a substantial component and/or experience in quantitative methods/biostatistics.



The deadline for applications is Monday, 1st April 2019. For details how to apply please go to:



https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/identification-and-modelling-of-causal-genetic-and-environmental-factors-for-hd-severity-and-progression/?p106797



Please feel free to share this widely among your colleagues and students.



Best regards,



Philip





Project description



Huntington's disease (HD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder caused by expanded CAG repeats in the HTT gene. Despite having a single genetic cause, HD exhibits considerable variation in age at onset, progression and symptoms. Recently, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have implicated genetic variants as modifiers of age at onset and progression , but the mechanisms through which they act are still largely unknown. Likewise, there have been studies reporting associations between environmental factors such as physical activity and diet to HD onset and progression. However, in order to develop effective therapies for HD, it is important to be able to model the interplay between genetic and environmental factors and their causal effects on the progression and severity of clinical symptoms.

This project will use data from the recently funded DOMINO-HD (Multi-Domain Lifestyle Targets for Improving ProgNOsis in Huntington's Disease) study. This consists of 300 manifest and pre-manifest HD patients with genetic data and detailed clinical (motor, cognitive, behavioural) and environmental (physical activity, sleep and dietary intake) endpoints measured longitudinally over a period of 12 months. The clinical data will be used to develop informative measures of disease severity and progression using a variety of statistical techniques such as principal component analysis and hidden Markov models. The relationships between the genetic and environmental factors and the model of disease progression will be modelled using linear (e.g. canonical correlation) and non-linear machine-learning techniques, and the accuracy of the resulting predictors to predict conversion from pre-manifest to manifest HD will be investigated. Causal relationships between the genetic and environmental factors and the clinical measures of severity and progression will be tested using methods such as Mendelian randomisation. In addition to including known genetic risk factors for HD onset and progression (either individually or combined in a polygenic risk score), the genetic data will be used to discover novel genetic variants and biological pathways influencing disease progression by performing a GWAS with the measures derived in this project.





Dr Philip Pallmann

Research Fellow

Deputy Director RDCS South East Wales

Centre for Trials Research

College of Biomedical and Life Sciences

Cardiff University

4th Floor, Neuadd Meirionnydd

Heath Park

Cardiff

CF14 4YS



Tel: +44 (0)29 2068 7461

Email: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>




Dr Philip Pallmann

Cymrawd Ymchwil

Dirprwy Gyfarwyddwr RDCS De-ddwyrain Cymru

Canolfan Ymchwil Treialon

Coleg y Gwyddorau Biofeddygol a Gwyddorau Bywyd

Prifysgol Caerdydd

4ydd Llawr, Neuadd Meirionnydd

Parc y Mynydd Bychan

Caerdydd
CF14 4YS

Ffôn: +44 (0)29 2068 7461

E-bost: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>




The University welcomes correspondence in Welsh or English. Corresponding in Welsh will not lead to any delay.

Mae'r Brifysgol yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg neu yn Saesneg. Ni fydd gohebu yn Gymraeg yn creu unrhyw oedi.



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