UCL 4 Year PhD Studentships in Cardiovascular Biomedicine
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of mortality and
morbidity in the world. UCL pursues a multidisciplinary approach to
elucidating the causes and treatment of CVD. University College
London is a world class centre of excellence in cardiovascular
epidemiology and public health, as well as in pioneering novel,
integrative strategies in preventative and therapeutic cardiovascular
medicine. Over 400 cardiovascular epidemiologists, scientists and
cardiologists cover basic and clinical sciences with a view to
improving our knowledge base and improving prevention, diagnosis,
and treatment. Training the next generation of cardiovascular
researchers is a high priority for us, and with generous funding from
the British Heart Foundation we are able to offer a four year PhD
programme for first rate students. Project areas cover the entirety of
research in this area, from public health and epidemiology to
molecules and development. One PhD studentship will be held in
the Research Department of Epidemiology and Public Health.
The programme
The first year will provide post-graduate level tuition in relevant epidemiology, statistics,
basic biology (term one) & other life sciences, students attending relevant lectures on
the Social Epidemiology MSc in the Department of Epidemiology & Public Health and
the M.Res. course run at UCL’s Institute of Child Health. In addition, students will
choose from a wide array of advanced courses available at UCL to further underpin their
skills in areas of their interest (from public health and statistics to imaging and stem
cells). They will visit a number of research groups, departments and laboratories at UCL
to obtain an overview of research activity. A major aim of year one is to enable students
to make the most informed choice of PhD project, while developing a broad knowledge
of cardiovascular biomedicine. Students will undertake two rotation projects with different
research groups, selected from a portfolio students will receive early in term 1. These
will provide practical skills training. During the first two terms students will meet several
prospective PhD supervisors and chose a project for the PhD, which will commence in
the summer term. Projects will cover the entire range of activity across the UCL campus
and applicants are advised to use our web presence to familiarize themselves with our
research: www.ucl.ac.uk/slms/research-themes/cardiovascular-medicine and
www.ucl.ac.uk/epidemiology with links therein.
Progress through year 1 will be monitored by a log of activity. In year 2 students initially
register for M.Phil. and progress to PhD following standard UCL upgrade procedure
involving a presentation, written report and oral examination. During their PhD students
are strongly encouraged to present their work at international meetings and funds will be
made available specifically for this purpose.
The research
UCL is ranked fourth in the Times Higher world rankings. A profile of research conducted
by prospective supervisors is provided below; titles of potential projects are listed, but
new projects regularly come onstream. Students interested might also find it informative
to scan websites of UCL’s biomedical departments, divisions and postgraduate institutes
to familiarise themselves with the full range of research activities being undertaken.
The Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at UCL has 160 Research staff, plus
over 50 PhD students. Research students are well-provided for, with regular peer-led
educational meetings and multi-disciplinary supervisory panels complementing formal
attachment to one of 13 research groups.
We would be willing, and indeed encourage, students to develop projects along side a
supervisor during the first year.
Examples of the 2009-2010 rotation projects are available here.
Applications
Eligibility
It is very important that you read this section carefully to ensure that you meet all the
criteria.
Applicants should hold, or expect to receive, a first class or a good upper second class
Honours degree from a good university. Shortlisting will take into account any relevant
project/work experience to-date and A-level/extension paper/baccalaureate results.
Excellent spoken and written English is expected. Competition for the course is intense,
and it may not be possible to acknowledge all applications.
Residency requirements
Candidates must be a national of the EEA (European Economic Area) OR, at the
discretion of the course organisers:
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
Candidates for UK based personal awards (e.g. fellowships and PhD
studentships) should normally be a national of the EEA (European Economic
Area) with relevant connection to the EEA. Relevant connection would be
established if an individual has (i) been ordinarily resident in the EEA, and (ii) has
an appropriate degree from a university in the EEA, or has worked in a university,
hospital or research institution in the EEA for at least the past three years, or did
so before taking up an appointment outside the EEA.
Candidates who are not EEA nationals may be eligible to apply if the individual
has worked in a university (providing it is not for the sole purpose of full-time
education), hospital or research institution in the UK for at least three years, prior
to the date of application.
Stipend
The stipend will be at BHF rates, currently £20,191 in the first year.
Application process
Your application must include:
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A covering letter
CV
The names and addresses of two referees
The name of the university at which you studied and the degree title and pass
level you achieved or expect to achieve. Documentary evidence of progress
would be an advantage (For overseas universities independent explanations of
GPAs or other scoring systems should be provided where available).
and should be sent by email to bhf4yr@ich.ucl.ac.uk
Closing Date:
The deadline is: 5pm 20 December 2010
Enquiries to Dr. Jennifer Mindell: j.mindell@ucl.ac.uk
British Heart Foundation PhD programmes
Below is a list of prospective supervisors in the Research Department of Epidemiology &
Public Health and potential projects for the British Heart Foundation PhD programme:
Professor Martin Bobak / Dr Hynek Pikhart
Prof Harry Hemingway
Prof Aroon Hingorani
Dr Jennifer Mindell
Dr Nicola Jane Shelton
Dr E Stamatakis
Prof Andrew Steptoe
Professor Martin Bobak / Dr Hynek Pikhart
UCL Department: Epidemiology and Public Health (Division of Population Health)
Email: m.bobak@ucl.ac.uk / h.pikhart@ucl.ac.uk
Tel: 020 31083021 / 020 76791906
Fax: 020 78130280 / 020 78130280
Research interests:
Health inequalities, Ageing, Health behaviours and CVD, Social and psychosocial
inequalities in health, Central and Eastern Europe.
Prospective PhD project:
Nutrition and CVD risk in prospective cohort study in transitional societies
The HAPIEE (Health, Alcohol and Psychosocial factors in Eastern Europe) study (about
35000 participants aged 45-69 at baseline) has been set up to investigate the effect of
classical and non-conventional risk factors for CHD and other non- communicable
diseases in several countries of CEE and FSU. Extensive data have been collected using
questionnaires, examination and blood samples. In this project, student should focus on
the role of dietary data in the high rates of heart disease and diet-related risk factors in
Russia, Poland, and the Czech Republic.
Five relevant publications:
Peasey A, Bobak M, Kubinova R, Malyutina S, Pajak A, Tamosiunas A, Pikhart H,
Nicholson A, Marmot M. Determinants of cardiovascular disease and other noncommunicable diseases in Central and Eastern Europe: rationale and design of the
HAPIEE study. BMC Public Health. 2006 Oct 18;6:255.
Prof Harry Hemingway
Title: Professor of Clinical Epidemiology
UCL Department: Epidemiology and Public Health
Email: h.hemingway@ucl.ac.uk
Tel: 020 7679 1691
Fax: 020 7813 0242
Research interests:
Large scale study of the aetiology and prognosis of specific chronic and acute coronary
syndromes.
Prospective PhD project:
Genomic approaches to evaluate aetiologic and prognostic biomarkers for stable angina
pectoris in large scale studies, distinguishing three properties: causal relevance (i.e.
unconfounded associations, with mendelian randomisation approaches), risk prediction /
discrimination and response to environmental stimuli (including treatments).
Five relevant publications:
Hemingway H, Crook AM, Feder G, Banerjee S, Dawson JR, Magee P et al. Underuse of
coronary revascularization procedures in patients considered appropriate candidates for
revascularization. N Engl J Med 2001;344:645-54.
Hemingway H, Shipley M, Britton A, Page M, Macfarlane P, Marmot M.
Prognosis of angina with and without a diagnosis: 11 year follow up in the Whitehall II
prospective cohort study. BMJ 2003; 327: 895.
Hemingway H, McCallum A, Shipley M, Manderbacka K, Martikainen P, Keskimäki I.
Incidence and Prognostic Implications of Stable Angina Pectoris Among Women and
Men in a Large Ambulatory Population; JAMA 2006; 295:1404-1411.
Hemingway H, Chen R, Junghans C, Timmis A, Eldridge S, Black N, Shekelle P, Feder
G. Appropriateness criteria for coronary angiography in angina: reliability and validity
Ann Intern Med 2008 149(4):221-31.
Hemingway H, Langenberg C, Damant J, Frost C, Pyörälä K, Barrett-Connor E.
Prevalence of angina in women versus men: a systematic review and meta-analysis of
international variations across 31 countries. Circulation. 2008;117(12):1526-36.
Group web page links: www.ucl.ac.uk/ceg
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Prof Aroon Hingorani
Title: Professor of Genetic Epidemiology
UCL Department: Epidemiology and Public Health
Email a.hingorani@ucl.ac.uk
Tel: 020 3108 3080
Fax: 020 7813 0242
Research interests:
Genetic basis of common (complex diseases).
Applications of complex disease genetics for disease prediction, causal analysis (using
mendelian randomisation) and drug responsiveness (pharmacogenetics)
Prospective PhD project:
Can genetic studies in populations be used as a source of randomised evidence for
validation of new drug targets?
Five relevant publications:
Shah T, Casas JP, Cooper JA, Tzoulaki I, Sofat R, McCormack V, Smeeth L, Deanfield
JE, Lowe GD, Rumley A, Fowkes FG, Humphries SE, Hingorani AD. Critical appraisal
of CRP measurement for the prediction of coronary heart disease events: new data and
systematic review of 31 prospective cohorts. Int J Epidemiol. 2008 Oct 17. [Epub ahead
of print] PMID: 18930961 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Verzilli C, Shah T, Casas JP, Chapman J, Sandhu M, Debenham SL, Boekholdt MS,
Khaw KT, Wareham NJ, Judson R, Benjamin EJ, Kathiresan S, Larson MG, Rong J,
Sofat R, Humphries SE, Smeeth L, Cavalleri G, Whittaker JC, Hingorani AD. Bayesian
meta-analysis of genetic association studies with different sets of markers. Am J Hum
Genet. 2008 Apr;82(4):859-72. PMID: 18394581 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Bellamy L, Casas JP, Hingorani AD, Williams DJ. Pre-eclampsia and risk of
cardiovascular disease and cancer in later life: systematic review and meta-analysis.
BMJ. 2007 Nov 10;335(7627):974. Epub 2007 Nov 1. Review. PMID: 17975258
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Bautista LE, Smeeth L, Hingorani AD, Casas JP. Estimation of bias in nongenetic
observational studies using "mendelian triangulation". Ann Epidemiol. 2006
Sep;16(9):675-80. Epub 2006 Apr 18. PMID: 16621596 [PubMed - indexed for
MEDLINE]
Casas JP, Bautista LE, Smeeth L, Sharma P, Hingorani AD. Homocysteine and stroke:
evidence on a causal link from mendelian randomisation. Lancet. 2005 Jan 1521;365(9455):224-32. PMID: 15652605 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Lab web page links: Genetic epidemiology web page is under construction
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Dr Jennifer Mindell
Title: Clinical senior lecturer
UCL Department: Epidemiology & Public Health
Email: j.mindell@ucl.ac.uk
Tel: 020 7679 1269
Fax: 020 7813 0242
Research interests:
Current research: health examination surveys, particularly linkage to outcome data
(mortality, hospital use, cancer registration).
Other interests: Health Impact Assessment; policies that affect determinants of health and
inequalities, eg transport , tobacco control.
Prospective PhD project:
The impact of reporting blood pressure to participants &/or GPs, using the English
Longitudinal Study of Ageing and Health Survey for England data.
The effect of passive smoking (using objective biomarker - cotinine levels) on heart
attack and stroke deaths and hospitalization.
Five relevant publications:
Stamatakis E, Zaninotto P, Falaschetti E, Mindell J, Head J. Time trends in childhood
and adolescent obesity in England from 1995 to 2007 and projections of prevalence to
2015. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2010;64:167-74.
Ferie JE, Singh-Manoux A, Kivimäki M, Mindell J, Breeze E, Davey Smith G, Shipley
MJ. Cardiovascular risk factors as predictors of 40-year mortality in women and men.
Heart. 2009;95:1250-7
Jarvis MJ, Fidler J, Mindell J, Feyerabend M, West R. Assessing smoking status in
children, adolescents and adults: cotinine cutpoints revisited. Addiction. 2008;103:155361.
Zaninotto P, Mindell J, Hirani V. Prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors among ethnic
groups: results from the Health Surveys for England. Atherosclerosis. 2007;195:e48-e57.
Joffe M, Mindell J. Complex causal process diagrams for analyzing the health impacts of
policy interventions. Am J Public Health. 2006;96:473-9.
Web page links:
Department: www.ucl.ac.uk/epidemiology/
Research group: www.ucl.ac.uk/hssrg/
Health Survey for England: www.ucl.ac.uk/hssrg/hse.html
Personal web page: www.ucl.ac.uk/epidemiology/people/mindellj.htm
a. Men with CHD or stroke
100
90
Inverse cumulative frequency (%)
80
70
60
1998
2003
50
2006
40
30
20
10
0
3.5≥ 20%
b. Men with3.0
10yr CVD risk
4.0
4.5
5.0
5.5
6.0
6.5
7.0
7.5
8.0
c. Men with 10yr CVD risk <20%
100
90
90
80
80
70
60
1998
50
2003
2006
40
30
Inverse cumulative frequency (%)
Inverse cumulative frequency (%)
Total cholesterol (mmol/l)
100
70
60
1998
2003
50
2006
40
30
20
20
10
10
0
0
3.0
3.0
3.5
4.0
4.5
5.0
5.5
6.0
6.5
7.0
7.5
3.5
4.0
4.5
5.0
5.5
6.0
6.5
7.0
7.5
8.0
Total cholesterol (mmol/l)
Total cholesterol (mmol/l)
Total cholesterol levels in men in 1998, 2003, and 2006 by cardiovascular risk group
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Dr Nicola Jane Shelton
Title: Senior Lecturer
UCL Department: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health
Email: n.shelton@ucl.ac.uk
Tel: 02076795648
Fax: 020 7813 0280
Research interests:
Health geography, public health and epidemiology, inequalities and their determinants.
temporo-spatial factors in disease prevalence
8.0
Prospective PhD project:
Changes over time in the regional risk factors for CVD in England and Scotland:
comparing the relative influence of risk factors over time, and taking into account
changes within and between socio-economic groups as and the changing proportions of
the population within these groups.
Five relevant publications:
Craig, R and Shelton N. (2008) Eds The Health Survey for England 2007 London: TSO
Stafford, M., Duke-Williams,O., Shelton,N. (2008). Area inequalities in health: are we
underestimating them? Social Science and Medicine 67, 891-899. ISSN: 0277-9536
Shelton, N., Birkin, M. Dorling, D. (2007) ‘Where not to live: geographic inequalities in
mortality in Britain, 1981-2000’ Health and Place 12(4): 557-569
Shelton, N. (2006) ‘Conclusion: Infant mortality a continuing social problem’ Chapter 13
in Garrett, E. Galley, C. Shelton, N. and Woods, R. (eds.) Infant mortality a continuing
social problem? Aldershot: Ashgate
Bromley, C. Sproston, K. Shelton, N. (eds) (2005) The Scottish Health Survey 2003
Edinburgh: Scottish Executive
Lab web page links:
Department: www.ucl.ac.uk/epidemiology/
Research group: www.ucl.ac.uk/hssrg/
Health Survey for England: www.ucl.ac.uk/hssrg/hse.html
Personal web page: www.ucl.ac.uk/epidemiology/people/sheltonn.htm
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Dr E Stamatakis
Title:Senior Research Associate / National Institute for Health Research Fellow, UCL
UCL Department: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health
Email: e.stamatakis@ucl.ac.uk
Tel: 0207 679 1721
Fax: 0207 813 0280
Research interests:
Epidemiology and health effects of physical activity/sedentary behaviour, cardiovascular
disease, childhood obesity, health behaviours, health inequalities.
Prospective PhD project:
The epidemiology and health effects of physical activity and sedentary behaviour:
cardiovascular mortality, morbidity, and biomarkers.
Five relevant publications:
Stamatakis E, Hirani V, Rennie K. Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and sedentary
behaviours in relation to multiple adiposity indices. British Journal of Nutrition 2009;
101:765-773.
Stamatakis E, Hillsdon M, Mishra G, Hamer M, Marmot M. Television viewing and
other screen-based entertainment in relation to multiple socioeconomic status indicators
and area deprivation: The Scottish Health Survey 2003. Journal of Epidemiology and
Community Health. (In Press).
Stamatakis E, Hamer M, Lawlor DA. Physical activity, mortality and cardiovascular
disease: Is domestic physical activity beneficial? The Scottish Health Survey 1995, 1998
and 2003. American Journal of Epidemiology 2009. 169: 1191-1200
Hamer M, Stamatakis E. Physical activity and risk of CVD Events: inflammatory and
metabolic mechanisms. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 2009; 41:12061211
Stamatakis E, Hamer M, Primatesta P. Cardiovascular medication, physical activity and
mortality: cross-sectional population study with ongoing mortality follow up. Heart
2009; 95: 448-453.
Lab web page links:
Department: www.ucl.ac.uk/epidemiology/
Research group: www.ucl.ac.uk/hssrg/
Personal web page: www.ucl.ac.uk/slms/people/show.php?personid=100039 /
www.ucl.ac.uk/epidemiology/people/stamatakise.htm
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Prof Andrew Steptoe
Title: British Heart Foundation Professor of Psychology
UCL Department: Epidemiology and Public Health
Email: a.steptoe@ucl.ac.uk
Tel: 0207 679 1804
Fax: 0207 916 8542
Research interests:
Studies of the biological pathways linking psychosocial risk factors with cardiovascular
disease. Emotional responses and quality of life in patients with acute coronary
syndromes. Stress and inflammatory and vascular responses
Prospective PhD project:
Study of the impact of psychological stress on vascular inflammatory processes relevant
to coronary heart disease and diabetes. This will involve psychophysiological testing of
healthy volunteers and patients with coronary heart disease, measuring cytokine and
chemokine responses, and gene expression of inflammatory markers. The project will
suit students with a background in biological psychology or human physiology.
Five relevant publications:
Brydon L, Wright CE, O’Donnell K, Zachary I, Wardle J, Steptoe A. (2008). Stressinduced cytokine responses and central adiposity in young women. Int J Obesity, 32, 443450.
Ellins E, Halcox J, Donald A, Field B, Brydon L, Deanfield J, Steptoe A. (2008). Arterial
stiffness and inflammatory response to psychophysiological stress. Brain Behav Immun,
22, 941-8.
Steptoe A, Shamaei-Tousi A, Gylfe Å, Henderson B, Bergström S, Marmot M. (2007).
Socioeconomic status, pathogen burden, and cardiovascular disease risk. Heart, 93, 156770.
Steptoe A, Brydon L. (2009). Emotional triggering of cardiac events. Neurosci
Biobehav Rev, 33. 63-70.
Strike PC, Magid K, Whitehead DL, Brydon L, Bhattacharyya M, Steptoe A. (2006).
Psychophysiological processes underlying emotional triggering of acute coronary
syndromes. PNAS, 103, 4322-4327.
Lab web page links:
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/psychobiology/
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For information about prospective supervisors in other departments and potential
projects for the British Heart Foundation PhD programme, visit
www.ucl.ac.uk/slms/courses/research-degrees/ucl-bhf