Emma Dempster

MRC-funded PhD studentship at the University of Exeter in an interdisciplinary project on developing blood tests for the early detection of neurodegeneration following traumatic brain injury (TBI) . The project focuses on how traumatic brain injury, including repetitive head impacts in contact sports, may trigger early molecular changes linked to later neurodegenerative disease. The research will use liquid biopsy approaches and combine cell-free DNA (cfDNA) , neuron-derived extracellular vesicles , epigenomics , long-read sequencing , and integrated biomarker analysis . Supervision is provided by Emma Dempster and Paul Weightman-Potter at Exeter, together with Matt Suderman at Bristol, bringing expertise in neuroepigenetics , extracellular vesicle biology , genomics , and bioinformatics . This is a PhD studentship advertised through the GW4 BioMed MRC Doctoral Training Partnership . Applications are open now, with a closing date of 21 October 2026 . Interested candidates should review the full project details and application instructions via the provided GW4 BioMed link.