A*STAR Research Attachment Programme 2015

A*STAR Institutes, Singapore

Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences

Deciphering the determinants of human foregut differentiation to liver and pancreas

Professor Neil Hanley & Dr Ray Dunn

The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) in Singapore together with the University of Manchester is offering the opportunity to experience outstanding international PhD training in emerging areas of bioscience and medical research priority.

The A*STAR Research Attachment Programme (ARAP) enables students to spend two years in Manchester and two years in Singapore at a prestigious A*STAR Research Institute. Successful candidates will work with distinguished and renowned supervisors from A*STAR and Manchester, in vibrant research-intensive environments.

This PhD offers a truly distinctive opportunity to study how human development unfolds during the embryonic period. There is privileged access to human material; and modelling in human pluripotent stem cells, and in species such as frog and mouse. The focus will be on pancreas and liver development where the host labs have major experience [1-4]. This includes unique datasets demonstrating the likely importance of a raft of new transcriptional regulators. Understanding how pancreas development proceeds to insulin-secreting beta cell is critical information for cell therapy in diabetes; while knowledge of how to make fully functional hepatocytes is enormously important to combat the major problem of failed drug development due to hepatotoxicity.

The successful candidate will work on a panel of novel transcription factors, already identified, to determine their function in regulating how cells differentiate to pancreas or liver. The research package will delineate when and where the factors act, discover the consequences of their inactivation or over-expression, and place the factors within broader signalling cascades and developmental pathways. This is anticipated to lead to publication of novel discoveries in high-impact journals. They will become equipped in wide-ranging developmental and molecular biology skills including stem cell biology and functional genomics.

This 4-year full-time studentship provides full support for UK/EU tuition fees, training costs and an annual minimum tax-free stipend at RCUK rates (currently £13, 863). The project is due to commence October 2015 and is open to UK/EU nationals only due to the nature of the funding.

Applicants should hold (or expect to obtain) a minimum upper-second honours degree (or equivalent) in a related medical or biological science. A Masters degree in a similar discipline would be beneficial as would previous experience of some of the techniques referenced above.

Details on the application process and further information on the A*STAR-Manchester scheme can be found on our website:

www.singaporeastar.manchester.ac.uk/

Interested individuals are strongly recommended to contact Professor Hanley prior to submitting an application to establish suitability for the project as well as gain further information on the planned research (neil.hanley<στο>manchester.ac.uk).

www.human-development.manchester.ac.uk/staff/NeilHanley

Applications should be submitted online by 5pm, Friday 23 January 2015.

1. Baxter M, Withey S, Harrison S, Segeritz C-P, Zhang F, Atkinson-Dell R, et al. Phenotypic and functional analyses show stem cell-derived hepatocyte-like cells better mimic fetal rather than adult hepatocytes. J Hepatol in press.
   1. Hanley NA. Closing in on pancreatic beta-cells. Nat Biotechnol in press.
   2. Jennings RE, Berry AA, Kirkwood-Wilson R, Roberts NA, Hearn T, Salisbury RJ, et al. Development of the human pancreas from foregut to endocrine commitment. Diabetes 2013;62:3514-3522.
   3. Tsuneyoshi N, Dunn NR. Guards at the gate to embryonic stem cell differentiation. Cell 2013;153:281-283.