Shilpa Chokshi

[3-year studentship with full Home tuition fees plus a stipend of £19,830 per annum (2026-27 rate).] University of Plymouth is offering a fully funded 3-year PhD studentship in Medical Studies on SHIELD: Systematic Assessment of Hepatic Micro- and Nanoplastic Accumulation and Clearance in Liver Disease . The project sits within the Centre of Environmental Hepatology and the purpose-built PLEXI Laboratory, bringing together environmental science, hepatology, and advanced biomedical analysis. The research addresses an important and emerging question: how micro- and nanoplastics accumulate, persist, and are cleared from the liver, and whether they contribute to liver disease progression. The successful candidate will work with patient samples and patient-derived organoid models to quantify and characterise micro- and nanoplastics in human liver, blood, and bile from a cohort of patients with MASLD. The project also aims to investigate toxicity and clearance mechanisms, develop and validate tissue-based biological reference materials for microplastic analysis, and correlate polymer burden with fibrosis stage and clinical severity. This is a multidisciplinary project with access to biobanked samples and state-of-the-art methods including Pyrolysis-GC/MS, Raman spectroscopy, confocal microscopy, electron microscopy, transcriptomics, proteomics, and ICP-MS. It is well suited to candidates interested in environmental health, liver disease, toxicology, molecular biology, analytical chemistry, and organoid-based research. Funding includes full Home tuition fees and a stipend of £19,830 per year at the 2026-27 rate. The studentship runs for 3 years and is due to start on 1 January 2027. Eligibility requires a First or Upper Second Class (2:1) honours degree and preferably a Master’s degree or equivalent in a relevant subject such as Biomedical Science, Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, Pharmacology, Toxicology, Environmental Science, Analytical Chemistry, or Chemistry. Prior research experience is preferred, especially from a Master’s project or RA/technician role. Useful skills include mammalian cell culture, organoid culture, microscopy, spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, transcriptomics, and bioinformatics. International applicants must meet the English language requirement of IELTS Academic 6.5 overall with at least 5.5 in each component, or equivalent. Applications close on 16 October 2026. Interested candidates should apply via the project page and follow the university’s application process.

[3-year studentship; full Home tuition fees plus a stipend of £19,830 per annum at the 2026-27 rate.] University of Plymouth is offering a fully funded 3-year PhD studentship in Medical Studies for the project SHIELD: Systematic Assessment of Hepatic Micro- and Nanoplastic Accumulation and Clearance in Liver Disease . This project tackles an important and emerging problem in environmental hepatology: how micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) accumulate, persist, and are cleared from the liver, and whether they contribute to disease progression. The research sits within the Centre of Environmental Hepatology and the PLEXI Laboratory, bringing together clinical samples, advanced analytical technologies, and patient-derived organoid models to investigate plastic-induced liver injury and the biology of exposure in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). The successful candidate will quantify and characterise MNPs in human liver, blood, and bile from a large cohort of MASLD patients; study toxicity, accumulation, and clearance in organoid systems; develop and validate tissue-based biological reference materials for MNP analysis; and correlate MNP burden and polymer composition with fibrosis stage and clinical severity. Methods and platforms include Pyrolysis-GC/MS, Raman spectroscopy, confocal microscopy, electron microscopy, transcriptomics, proteomics, and ICP-MS. Funding includes full Home tuition fees plus a stipend of £19,830 per annum at the 2026-27 rate. The studentship is supported for 3 years and is due to start on 1 January 2027. Applicants should normally have a First or Upper Second Class (2:1) honours degree, and preferably a relevant Master’s degree or equivalent qualification. Preferred backgrounds include Biomedical Science, Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, Pharmacology, Toxicology, Environmental Science, Analytical Chemistry, Chemistry, or a closely related subject. Prior research experience is valued, and practical experience in cell culture, organoid culture, microscopy, spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, transcriptomics, or bioinformatics would be advantageous. English-language requirements apply where relevant: IELTS Academic 6.5 overall with no less than 5.5 in each component, or equivalent. Applications close on 16 October 2026. This PhD is a strong fit for students interested in environmental health, liver disease, biomarker discovery, plastic pollution, and translational biomedical research in a collaborative multidisciplinary setting.