PhD: Retinal and choroidal imaging biomarkers

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Post ID: 039181

Applications are invited for a fully funded PhD studentship under the Trinity Research Doctorate Award (TRDA) programme, supervised by Antoinette O’Connor in the School of Medicine at Trinity College Dublin (TCD). Co-supervision will be provided by Mark Cahill and Sarah Doyle.

The PhD project will investigate retinal and choroidal imaging biomarkers as potential non-invasive indicators of early Alzheimer’s disease in genetically determined populations, including Down syndrome-associated Alzheimer’s disease and autosomal dominant Alzheimer’s disease. The project is embedded within the Bio-MinDS research programme and linked to the National Intellectual Disability Memory Service at Tallaght University Hospital.

The successful candidate will work within an interdisciplinary clinical–academic research environment combining retinal imaging, blood-based biomarkers and longitudinal clinical phenotyping to advance understanding of early Alzheimer’s disease and support development of accessible approaches to biomarker research and prevention-focused studies.

The successful candidate will undertake retinal imaging acquisition and multimodal biomarker analysis and will work closely with collaborators across Trinity College Dublin, Tallaght University Hospital and Progressive Vision Research. The project will provide training in translational neuroscience, biomarker research, retinal imaging, multimodal data analysis and interdisciplinary clinical research. The successful candidate will also have opportunities for international collaboration with autosomal dominant AD  research group at University College London.

Applicants should submit the following to Antoinette O’Connor by e-mail:

1.     A full Curriculum Vitae.

2.     A short (no more than one-page) statement outlining motivation and understanding of the project topic.

3.     Academic transcripts.

4.     A writing sample (e.g., a published paper, thesis excerpt, or report).

5.     Contact details of two referees (including email addresses).

General enquiries concerning the studentship and applications should be emailed to: aoconn06@tcd.ie, with the subject line: TRDA_AD_RETINA_[your full name].

Applications must be submitted by 31st May 2026 at 12pm noon.

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to interview shortly thereafter.

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