Animal free alternatives to the study of nutrition in pregnancy
It’s never been more exciting or more important to study how the early mammalian embryo is formed. While we know lots about embryo development, we know surprisingly little about how development occurs within the body – and that which we do know has relied heavily on research using animals. However, we now have developed a cutting edge model of the reproductive environment that has no reliance on animal tissue. We now want to find you, the next expert in early development to undertake a fully-funded project that will examine how the female tract modulates mammalian embryo development, whilst reducing the reliance on animals in research. The project will be supported by a supervisory team with expertise in embryo development, cell biology and transcriptomics (Sturmey, Ruane, Stevens).
The project will model how the very first stages of embryonic development, from fertilisation through to implantation can be affected by nutritional changes in the reproductive tract. However, this important question will be tackled in a unique way, by validating methods to study nutrition in pregnancy without using animal models. We can say with some confidence that the conditions in which fertilisation and early development occurs can influence lifelong health, but this knowledge has been built on data generated from large numbers of studies using mice as a model species. The use of animal models has been unavoidable to date, however we have advanced a new organoid-based model of the female reproductive tract which may enable studies of the interaction between diet and early development to be carried out in vitro; vastly reducing the reliance on animal models. In this project, you will undertake vital studies on the physiology of our models of the female reproductive tract using advanced biochemical and transcriptomic analyses. Once completed, you will assess how the delivery of key nutrients by female reproductive tract is modified by conditions carefully designed to mimic poor diets. Finally, you will measure the impact of these modifications on early embryo physiology, using established biochemical and cell-based assays.
By the end of your PhD, you will have made significant discoveries in the field of periconceptual physiology and embryo development whilst advancing a critical new resource that will reduce the reliance on animals for such research. You will graduate with extremely strong laboratory skills and have established skill sets in analysis of transcriptomic ‘big data’ sets. Furthermore, you will develop a number of transferrable skills and clear understanding of how these can be applied to advance our understanding of early development.
Closing Date: 26 April 2024
Find out more and apply on findaPhD.com