PhD Studentship: Harnessing Artificial Intelligence to Transform the Treatment of Inflammatory Arthritis

PhD Studentship in Artificial Intelligence in Rheumatology

Project title:  Harnessing Artificial Intelligence to Transform the Treatment of Inflammatory Arthritis

Supervisors:  Professor Weizi Li and Professor Antoni Chan

Project Overview:   

Over 20 million people in the UK live with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMD) and inflammatory arthritis (IA) is a major subdivision of RMD causing joint inflammation leading to damage.

We are looking for a highly motivated PhD candidate passionate about AI in healthcare. This PhD project is built on collaboration between the University of Reading and Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, aiming to advance AI methods to improve inflammatory treatment management in the real world. It is the first-of-its-type AI research in the rheumatology discipline that combines multiple data sources along the patient pathways and develops real-world evidence to inform future clinical practice. The project will involve developing novel methods such as multimodal machine learning, large language models, and fairness and uncertainty evaluations.

The PhD student will benefit from:

• State-of-the-art AI computing recourses for large-scale model training including GPU NVIDIA H100.
• Interdisciplinary collaborations with AI researchers and clinicians from NHS hospitals.
• Participate in large collaborative project funded by the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR206473) with NHS partners in Reading and Oxford
• Opportunities to present at leading AI & medical conferences

Eligibility: 

• Applicants should have a Master’s degree in Computer Science, AI, Machine Learning, Data Science, Bioinformatics, or a strongly-related discipline.
• International applicants will also need to meet the University’s English Language requirements.
• This studentship is open to UK and international applicants.

Funding Details:   

• Starts September/October 2025
• 3 year award
• Funding covers full tuition fees plus UKRI stipend (£20,780 in 2025/26).

How to apply:  

Apply online via the above ‘Apply’ button and create your account, and use the link sent by email to start the application process. During the application process, please select the PhD in Informatics and Operations. 

*Important notes*

1. Please quote the reference ‘DRC25-036’ in the ‘Scholarships applied for’ box which appears within the Funding Section of your on-line application. 
2. If the application system prompts you to submit a research proposal, please paste in the project title and move on to the next step in the application.
3. Please upload a personal statement with your application outlining why you are interested in the project and also to highlight any relevant skills and experience.
4. Please upload a CV with your application.
5. Interview invitations will be sent if the candidate is successful in shortlisting.
6. Offer decision will be made after the interview. 

Application Deadline: 

• Application submission deadline 1^st June 2025.
• The interviews will be in June 2025. The interview date will be communicated to shortlisted candidates in due course. 

Further Enquiries:  

For further details please contact: Prof Weizi Li Weizi.li@henley.ac.uk , Professor Antoni Chan Antoni.Chan@reading.ac.uk

Please note that, where a candidate is successful in being awarded funding, this will be confirmed via a formal studentship award letter; this will be provided separately from any Offer of Admission and will be subject to standard checks for eligibility and other criteria. 

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