PhD Studentship: Development of methodology to cryopreserve, store and revive human precision cut tissue slices for disease modelling and drug testing.

Award Summary

100% of home tuition fees paid and an annual stipend (living expenses) starting at £20,780 (25/26 rate). International candidates will be required to fund the difference between home fees and international fees. 

Overview

Are you interested in working with non-animal complex 3D models of human disease in the fields of tissue inflammation and fibrosis?  

Organ fibrosis is a global unmet healthcare need and despite significant research, new treatments are urgently needed. Animal models are commonly used to study the development of these diseases and test novel treatments, but they often fail to bridge the translation gap and have ethical considerations.  

Human precision cut tissue slices (hPCTS) are a translationally relevant model for discovery biology and drug testing, but a barrier for researchers to use hPCTS in their research programs is lack of access to fresh human tissue and the expertise/infrastructure to generate hPCTS. 

This NC3Rs funded PhD aims to address this roadblock, by developing methods to cryopreserve, store and revive hPCTS for ex-vivo culture and then evaluate the potential for cryopreserved hPCTS to be used to model inflammation and fibrosis and perform drug efficacy testing.  

During this PhD you will work closely with the Newcastle Fibrosis Research Group to gain expertise in ex-vivo tissue culturing and disease modelling, histopathology and downstream tissue processing methodologies. 

Number Of Awards: 1

Start Date: 15th September 2025

Award Duration: 3 year PhD

Application Closing Date: 31st May 2025

Sponsor: NC3Rs

Supervisors

Professor Fiona Oakley, & Dr Lee Borthwick, Biosciences Research Institute; and

Professors Neil Sheerin & Andrew Fisher, Translational and Clinical Research Institute 

Eligibility Criteria

You must have, or are expected to achieve, at least a 2:1 honours degree or international equivalent, in an appropriate subject, including: biomedical sciences, molecular or cell biology. MRes/MSci would be advantageous.  

The studentship covers “home rate” fees. International/EU applicants must cover the difference between home and international fees. 

English Language requirements: IELTS 6.5 overall, with 5.5 or more in each sub-skill. 

International applicants may require an ATAS (academic Technology Approval Scheme) clearance certificate prior to obtaining their visa. 

Search Funding | Postgraduate | Newcastle University

You must apply through the University’s Apply to Newcastle Portal, by clicking the 'Apply' button, above.

In the ‘Course choice’ tab:  

• select ‘Postgraduate Research’ in the 'Type of Study' field 
• select ‘Full Time’ in the ‘Mode of Study’ field 
• select ‘2025’ in the ‘Year of Entry’ field 
• enter programme code 8420F in the ‘Course Title’ field 
• leave the ‘Research Area’ field blank 
• press ‘Search’ 
• Select ‘PhD Biosciences (FT)’ 
• Save selection 

In the ‘Further Details’ section: 

• a ‘Personal Statement’ (this is a mandatory field) - upload a document or write a statement directly in to the application form, quoting the studentship reference code BI094, and state the studentship title, and how your interests and experience relate to the project. 
• the studentship code BI094 in the ‘Studentship/Partnership Reference’ field 
• when prompted for how you are providing your research proposal - select ‘Write Proposal’, and type in the title of the research project from this advert (No need to upload a research proposal). 

In the ‘Supporting Documentation’ section: 

• upload your CV 

You must submit one application per studentship, you cannot apply for multiple studentships on one application 

Contact Details

Professor Fiona Oakley: fiona.oakley@newcastle.ac.uk

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