PhD Studentship in Human Nutrition and Exercise Research Centre: Gut Hormone Dysregulation in Anorexia of Ageing: Enhancing Knowledge and Exploring Treatment Strategies

Award summary

This three-year award will cover tuition fees at the Home (UK) rate and an annual stipend of £19,237. This studentship is open to Home students only.

Overview

Interested in nutrition and healthy ageing, and how the ageing gut effects eating in later life? This project will explore how appetite-related gut hormones respond to feeding in older adults who experience low appetite and are at risk of undernutrition.

A loss of appetite in later life, termed anorexia of ageing, is experienced by approximately 30% of free-living older adults and over half of those in residential care. Anorexia of ageing is associated with increased risk of undernutrition, sarcopenia, and morbidity, culminating in an increased risk of mortality. With an ageing population, this is an imposing challenge for current and future healthcare provision.

In this PhD, you’ll advance knowledge of the role of gut hormones in anorexia of ageing and identify treatment strategies to increase food intake in older adults at risk of undernutrition. Through randomised control trials, you’ll determine the responses of gut hormones to experimental manipulation of nutrient and energy ingestion, and ingestion method.

You’ll be trained in aspects of human experimental trials, such as good clinical practice, phlebotomy, data analysis, and biochemical analysis techniques. You’ll also engage with local communities and community groups for recruitment and dissemination of findings.

Number of awards: 1

Start date: January 2025

Award duration: Three years

Sponsor: Newcastle University, Faculty Medical Sciences

Supervisors:

Dr. Adrian Holliday (Lead Supervisor)

Dr. Matt Knight

Prof. Bernard Corfe

Eligibility criteria

You must have at least a 2:1 honours degree or international equivalent in a subject relating to nutrition and biochemistry, including sport and exercise science, physiology, and biomedical sciences. Further qualifications, such as an MSc or MRes, is advantageous.

Experience of conducting human research, of biochemical analysis techniques, and of writing for academic publication are also advantageous.

If your first language is not English, you need an overall IELTS score of 6.5 (at least 5.5 in all sub-skills) or equivalent language qualification.

How to apply

Register and apply through the University’s Apply to Newcastle Portal - https://applyto.newcastle.ac.uk/ and ‘Create a Postgraduate Application’.

In ‘Course choice’ tab, click ‘Search Course’ put ‘Postgraduate Research’, in 'Type of Study', ‘Full Time’, in ‘Mode of Study’, ‘2024’ as ‘Year of Entry’. Our admissions staff will change the start date to January 2025 after you have applied, code ‘8853F’ in ‘Course Title’, blank in ‘Research Area’.

Press ‘Search’ and select ‘PhD Biomed Nutrition Sport Sci (PHSI)’, click ‘Save selection.’

You’ll need to provide the following in the ‘Further Details’ section:

• Personal Statement’ - upload a document or write your statement directly in to the application form. You must state the title of the studentship, quote reference code PH054 and state how your interests, skills/experience relate to the project.
• Add studentship code PH054 in the ‘Studentship/Partnership Reference’ field.
• Research proposal - select ‘Write Proposal’. Use the project title from this advert. You do not need to upload a research proposal.

In the ‘Supporting Documentation’ section upload your CV

Contact Details

Dr. Adrian Holliday
School of Biomedical, Nutritional, and Sport Sciences
adrian.holliday@ncl.ac.uk
0191 2080564

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