PhD Studentship : Combining Technologies to Elucidate the Epigenome’s Impact on Health and Disease

About the GW4 BioMed2 Doctoral Training Partnership

The partnership brings together the Universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff (lead) and Exeter to develop the next generation of biomedical researchers. Students will have access to the combined research strengths, training expertise and resources of the four research-intensive universities, with opportunities to participate in interdisciplinary and 'team science'. The DTP already has over 90 studentships over 6 cohorts in its first phase, along with 58 students over 3 cohorts in its second phase.

Research Theme:  Population Health Sciences

Summary:  The epigenome’s dynamic nature and it’s responsiveness to environmental changes make it particularly attractive in the study of health and disease. This interest has resulted in various technologies for mapping it in individual samples, such as microarrays and Nanopore sequencing. This data science project aims to optimize and combine the benefits of these technologies to generate detailed maps of the epigenome across multiple individuals. By doing so, we can better understand how to make best use of the tools available to advance our understanding of how the epigenome influences the development of disease.

Project Description:

Description Background:

Genetic studies have concluded that gene regulation, which controls when and in which cells a gene is active, is a key mechanism for understanding the development of diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, and heart disease. The epigenome is a key component of gene regulation. It consists of a diverse range of modifications that attach to DNA and manipulates when and where genes are active. Unlike your DNA which stays the same throughout life, the epigenome is dynamic. It changes in response to both genetics and the environment. Therefore, it is of significant interest to researchers aiming to identify which genes play a role in the development of disease. This interest has been noticed by biotechnology companies, and there are multiple tools available to profile the epigenome. This includes Illumina microarrays which are affordable for large numbers of samples but only profile a small fraction (3%) of the epigenome and Oxford Nanopore sequencing which is very expensive but data rich giving an almost complete map of the epigenome in a single sample. The overarching objective of this data science PhD project is to determine the optimal approach for generating the most comprehensive map of the epigenome across multiple individuals while minimising experimental cost. This will look to combine the technologies available, harnessing their individual strengths and propose a strategy that could be applied to identify novel differences in the epigenome associated with disease and the genes affected by these.

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