PhD Studentship: Can Blood Reveal the Body? Trustworthy AI for Tissue Gene Expression
[4-year Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership PhD studentship including tuition fees paid directly to the University, a stipend of £21,805 (2026/27 rate) per year, and a Research Training Support Grant of £5,000 per year.]
PhD studentship at the University of East Anglia, conducted within the Earlham Institute and the Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership, on a highly interdisciplinary project combining AI, transcriptomics, genetics, and computational biology.
The project asks whether blood can reveal molecular activity in other tissues, and—crucially—when such inference can be trusted. You will develop Blood2Tissue, a tissue-conditioned AI framework to predict tissue-specific gene expression programmes from blood. The work builds on existing methods including CHROMATIN for cross-modal attention in multi-omics and MOCHA for uncertainty quantification, with the aim of creating a more reliable, calibrated approach to blood-to-tissue prediction.
Research tasks include benchmarking existing methods using the GTEx dataset, developing and calibrating the new model, and analysing IBDverse and reference cell atlases to understand why some molecular programmes are visible in blood while others remain tissue-specific. The project also has a translational dimension through confirmed visits to the Open Targets team at EMBL-EBI, where you will gain experience linking molecular signals to genetic and disease evidence.
Training will cover transcriptomics, machine learning, uncertainty quantification, genetics, single-cell genomics, high-performance computing, reproducible software, and responsible AI, including supervised use of AI-assisted tools for coding and workflow automation. The successful applicant will join Dr Rahuman Sheriff’s AI integrated Digital Twins Group, with Prof Irene Papatheodorou contributing expertise in cellular genomics and FAIR data.
Funding is provided as a 4-year PhD DTP studentship, including tuition fees, an annual stipend of £21,805, and a Research Training Support Grant of £5,000 per year. Applicants should hold at least a UK-equivalent 2:1 honours degree and meet the English language requirement of IELTS 6.5 overall with 6.0 in each component. The position is full-time and starts on 1 October 2027. Deadline: 30 November 2026.
