Steve Clifford

[100% of home tuition fees paid, annual stipend of £21,805 at UKRI non-clinical rate, plus £5,000 per year Research Training and Support Grant. International applicants must fund the difference between home and international tuition fees.] This fully funded PhD studentship at Newcastle University investigates immunogenomic predictors of tumour immune microenvironment and treatment-related brain injury in childhood medulloblastoma. The project addresses the long-term neurocognitive difficulties experienced by survivors of craniospinal radiotherapy, hypothesising that immune biology contributes to susceptibility to treatment-related brain injury. The research will involve analysing human germline genomic datasets to identify immune-related variants and pathway-level burden associated with neurocognitive outcomes, and relating these findings to tumour immune signatures derived from transcriptomic and methylation data. An established paediatric-equivalent mouse cranial radiotherapy model will be used to generate diffusion tensor MRI and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarker datasets, enabling the study of treatment-related brain injury. Integrated cross-species analyses will be performed to identify conserved immune mechanisms underlying radiation-induced brain injury and long-term cognitive vulnerability. The student will receive interdisciplinary training in statistical genetics, tumour immune profiling, neuroimaging analysis, and multimodal data integration within a collaborative, survivorship-focused research environment. The studentship provides 100% of home tuition fees, an annual stipend of £21,805 at the UKRI non-clinical rate, and a Research Training and Support Grant of £5,000 per year for research costs, training, and conference travel. International applicants are welcome but must fund the difference between home and international tuition fees. The project is supervised by Dr Debbie Hicks, Professor Steve Clifford, and Dr Dean Thompson, offering expertise in medical science, neuroscience, and genomics. Applicants should have, or expect to achieve, at least a 2:1 honours degree or international equivalent in biomedical sciences, genetics, neuroscience, immunology, or bioinformatics. A Masters degree with a strong research training component is advantageous. Prior experience with coding, genetics, or bioinformatics is helpful but not essential, as training will be provided. English language requirements must be met (IELTS 6.5 overall, with at least 5.5 in each sub-skill, or equivalent), and international applicants may require an ATAS clearance certificate. Applications must be submitted via the University’s Apply to Newcastle Portal. Select Postgraduate Research, Full Time, and 2026 as the Year of Entry. Enter programme code 8440F and studentship reference code TC128. Upload a personal statement outlining your interests and experience related to the project, and select 'Write Proposal' for the research proposal, entering the project title. Only one application per studentship is allowed. For further information, contact Dr Debbie Hicks at [email protected].