PhD Studentship - Understanding the Toxicity of Air Pollutant Tyre Wear Particles

Project Details

Air pollution remains the leading environmental health risk to humans, with inhalation of toxic particles accounting for the majority of harm. While the contribution of vehicle exhaust particles has decreased substantially over recent decades, other non-exhaust vehicle emissions such as tyre, road and brake wear have not. As tyre wear particles contain microplastics, carbon black and toxic chemicals, all with the potential for harm when inhaled, it is surprising what little is known regarding their contribution to air pollution health effects. This project will examine tyre wear particles for their ability to cause harm using in vitro models of the lung and immune system, exploiting high throughput toxicology methods including RNA-seq. Through mechanistic toxicology investigation coupled with parallel identification of particle chemical composition using LC and GC-MS methods among others, the project will determine the relative toxicity of tyre wear particle types. Ultimately, this work seeks to refine our understanding of complex air pollutant mixtures such that we can develop appropriate mitigation strategies and regulatory changes to protect human health.

Location

The PhD is a jointly supervised project between Dr Martin Leonard at UKHSA Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards (RCE) and Dr Ian Mudway of Imperial College London (ICL). The student will be registered at ICL and based for the majority of the time in the Toxicology Department at RCE on the Harwell Campus in Oxfordshire, with short visits to ICL for academic activities and training on air pollutant particle collection and analysis. In addition to project specific training and engagement with industry partners involved in characterising and mitigating tyre wear pollution, the student will have the opportunity to build their broader skills development through learning programmes at ICL and UKHSA. This project presents a unique opportunity to combine both academic, industry and public sector experiences in a project to tackle a major health issue.

Funding

The project is funded by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), an executive agency of the UK Department of Health & Social Care and is open to UK students only. The funding covers the tuition fees and provides an annual stipend for three years (currently at £22,976 pa for 2024-2025). See ICL Tuition Fee status for details of eligibility.

Eligibility

We invite applications from self-motivated individuals who hold/or expect to gain a first or upper second-class honours degree (or equivalent), or an MSci or Master’s degree, in a relevant life sciences or analytical chemistry associated discipline. Candidates with a lower second-class degree supplemented by a Master’s qualification (in a relevant subject) will also be considered. The candidate should ideally have some relevant laboratory experience in at least one of the following disciplines (In vitro culture, immunology, cell biology, toxicology, analytical chemistry). As this is a multidisciplinary project a willingness to learn new techniques, and a basic level of information technology skills is expected.

Proposed start date: October 2024

Supervisor contact details: for informal enquiries about this PhD position please contact Dr Martin Leonard E-mail: Martin.Leonard@ukhsa.gov.uk 

To apply for this PhD position please send a CV (including referees) and covering letter explaining why you are interested in the project by email to Martin.Leonard@ukhsa.gov.uk & i.mudway@imperial.ac.uk (via the ‘Apply’ button above).

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