3-year PhD Studentship in Advanced Medical Imaging of Fetal Growth Restriction

A 3-year PhD Studentship in Advanced Medical Imaging of Fetal Growth Restriction is available within the Institute of Women’s Health, funded by the institute. The studentship will commence from 1 October 2024 under the supervision of Dr Andrew Melbourne and Dr Rosalind Aughwane. 

Review of the Key Literature:

Fetal growth restriction (FGR) affects at least 10% of all pregnancies. FGR describes a fetus that has failed to reach their genetic growth potential. Many cases of FGR are caused by placental insufficiency occurring secondary to poor placentation in early pregnancy. The resulting inadequate maternal and fetal placental perfusion inhibits oxygen and nutrient supply to the fetus, resulting in poor growth. Placental insufficiency is responsible for over a third of UK stillbirths and is associated with considerable morbidity due to preterm birth.      

This PhD project will take recent developments in computational modelling of advanced MRI in pregnancy and adapt them to characterise fetal organ growth and development, especially in the lung, and link this to neonatal outcome data. The project will focus on developing the tools to facilitate and improve relevant physiological models of FGR and evaluate their use in clinical populations of FGR.

This project will specifically develop:

• techniques for automatic lung structure measurement and analysis using advanced MRI.
• apply these methods for measuring fetal lung development to fetal growth restriction.
• evaluate the performance of these measurements against outcome makers of fetal lung function
• validate these methods against results from an advanced pre-clinical model of fetal growth restriction.
• integrate the results and methods above with corresponding data from other fetal organs.

This work will be carried out on extensive pre-acquired data (in an ethically approved study) from both pre-clinical and clinical FGR datasets. The supervisors have a range of international physiological and clinical partners (from University College Hospital, the University of South Australia & Oregon Health and Science University) with whom this project will be developed, giving opportunities for wider travel and learning experiences including lab visits.

Hypothesis/Aims

1. To develop software for accurate assessment of fetal organ volume, shape and function using advanced imaging.
2. Apply this software to singleton pregnancies to investigate developmental patterns in fetal growth restriction and control pregnancies
3. Compare results with clinical markers of outcome such as lung and kidney function in the neonatal period.
4. Carry out validation by applying the developed methodology to a pre-clinical model of fetal growth restriction.

Person specification

Applicants should have, or expect to receive an upper second-class Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree (or equivalent work experience) in a relevant discipline or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard.

Funding notes

The student will receive a starting stipend of £21,237 per annum (including London weighting). The student will be expected to cover any relevant PhD tuition fees.

NB: You will be asked about your likely fee status at the interview so we would advise you to contact the UCL Graduate Admissions Office for advice should you be unsure whether or not you meet the eligibility criteria for Home fee status.  Further information on Brexit and the definitions for fee status assessment can be found on the UCL website and also the UKCISA website (Higher Education: Definitions for fee status assessment).

How to apply

To apply, send the following to Dr Andrew Melbourne (a.melbourne@ucl.ac.uk)

1. A current CV
2. A 1-sided A4 cover letter
3. Names and contact details (address, email) of two professional referees

Enquiries regarding the post can be made to Dr Andrew Melbourne (a.melbourne@ucl.ac.uk)

The successful applicant will then be required to apply to and register on the Institute of Women's Health research degree to take up the studentship. Any offer to the Studentship will be subject to obtaining an offer from UCL and meeting any conditions of that offer.

Closing Date

Deadline:  Friday, 6^th September 2024

Interview Date:  12^th/13^th September 2024 (date to be confirmed)