Lead Institute / Faculty: Medicine, Primary Care and Population Sciences
Main Supervisor: Dr Nisreen Alwan (Assoc Professor Public Health)
Other members of the supervisory team: Professor Paul Roderick (Public Health) and Professor Nicholas Macklon (Obstetrics and Gynaecology)
Duration of the award: 3 years full-time
Project description:
We are seeking applications from applicants who hold a first class or 2.1 undergraduate degree in a relevant field. An MSc in a relevant health, statistics or social sciences area is essential.
The funding will be for a full time 3-year studentship covering a research studentship stipend of currently £14K per annum and PhD tuition fees. Full funding is available to UK/EU candidates only. However, overseas candidates can apply for this studentship but will need to fund the difference between overseas and home fees.
The candidate will be based at Southampton General Hospital within the Public Health Group, part of the Academic Unit of Primary Care and Population Sciences, Faculty of Medicine. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework assessment, our University was ranked the 11th most powerful UK University. The Clinical Medicine category, of which the Public Health Group was part of, was ranked 8th of UK medical schools for research power and intensity.
This link provides more information about the department:
http://www.southampton.ac.uk/medicine/academic_units/academic_units/primary_care_population.page
Currently we have around 30 doctoral students registered in the University undertaking public health research. All our PhD supervisors attend the University supervisor training. The Faculty Graduate School provides generic training (in ethics, presentations, statistics, etc.). We have an active postgraduate research mentoring scheme. We offer tailored postgraduate training in our distinctive areas of strength, and in specific methodologies. Within our Unit, there is an established Research Education Advice and Communication in Health (REACH) Group, which includes all doctoral students.
PhD topic:
In the UK, 20% of 10-11 year old children are obese. Pregnancy is a “critical period” when regulation of energy balance is ‘programmed’ for the fetus, with lifelong consequences for obesity risk. Maternal factors such as weight, smoking, diet and diabetes can influence children’s risk for becoming obese and/or prone to cardiovascular disease risk later in life. Initial research using birth cohort data have shown that having a greater number of early life risk factors increases this risk, which means that intervening to address these modifiable lifestyle factors can play a role in preventing obesity.
This PhD project will consist of two main elements. The first element is observational research, which will involve investigating maternal and early life predictors of childhood overweight and obesity using population-based routine healthcare and education databases of about 100,000 women and their children. The second element will involve using the findings of this observational research to inform the development of a public health intervention aimed at modifying the preconception, maternal and early life risk factors, which have an impact on later adiposity risk, and thus tackling the obesity epidemic.
The PhD will be under the primary supervision of Dr Nisreen Alwan, Associate Professor in Public Health. The supervisory team will also include: Professor Paul Roderick, Professor of Public Health and Professor Nicholas Macklon, Professor in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. More information about the supervisors is on the webpages below:
http://www.southampton.ac.uk/medicine/about/staff/naa1f14.page
http://www.southampton.ac.uk/medicine/about/staff/pjr.page
http://www.southampton.ac.uk/medicine/about/staff/nsm1m08.page
For queries, please contact: Dr Nisreen Alwan: n.a.alwan@soton.ac.uk
Please contact: Name of Academic with email address Dr Nisreen Alwan N.A.Alwan@soton.ac.uk
Person Specification:
The successful candidate is likely to have the following qualifications:
A 1stor 2:1 degree in a relevant discipline and a second degree with a related Masters
Administrative contact and how to apply:
Please complete the University's online application form, which you can find at
https://studentrecords.soton.ac.uk/BNNRPROD/bzsksrch.P_Login?pos=4359&majr=4359&term=201617#_ga=1.44480039.2096330835.1453999045
You should enter Dr Nisreen Alwan as your proposed supervisor. To support your application provide an academic CV (including contact details of two referees), official academic transcripts and a personal statement (outlining your suitability for the studentship, what you hope to achieve from the PhD and your research experience to date).
Informal enquiries relating to the project or candidate suitability should be directed to Dr Nisreen Alwan (N.A.Alwan@soton.ac.uk).
Closing Date: 30 Apr 2016
Post Type: PhD Studentship (Funded)