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PhD: Head injury vascular damage and cognitive decline

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Website [2] Imperial College London

Closing date: 9th January

bluesky@imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social [3]

 

Alzheimer’s Society VIDA PhD Studentship Imperial College London with Prof Sastre studying traumatic brain injury vascular changes and links to dementia

An opportunity has arisen for a 4-year PhD studentship within the Department of Brain Sciences at Imperial College London funded by the VIDA DTC. VIDA (Vascular and Immune contributors to DementiA) is a multi-institutional partnership between Alzheimer’s Society and four world-leading research sites: the University of Manchester, University of Edinburgh, Imperial, and City St George’s University of London. With projects focussing on the importance of vascular and immune mechanisms in dementia, VIDA PhD students will become the next generation of much-needed dementia researchers, contributing to breakthroughs in dementia diagnosis and treatment.

VIDA students will embark upon a 4-year fully-funded PhD project at one of the four institutions above, with access to the state-of-the-art research facilities and interdisciplinary training available at all sites. Students at each site will come together as a cohort at several points during the programme, including annual conferences and residential workshop retreats which will link in with other Alzheimer’s Society Doctoral Training Centres across the UK. Students will also participate in engagement schemes with the Alzheimer’s Society and beyond, sharing the impact of their research in the community. The programme also benefits from built in opportunities for placements with leading industrial partners, and bespoke training plans including schemes to develop teaching, mentoring, and grant writing skills.

Project Description:

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major risk factor for the development of dementia. There is evidence of blood brain barrier (BBB) disruption in TBI brains, which is the first trigger for a complex immunological activation. We and others have shown that disruption to the neurovascular unit occurs early after TBI (Farajzadeh Khosroshahi et al., 2021; Hainsworth 2005), as consequence of physical insult, allowing the entrance of peripheral immune cells and initiating an inflammatory response, contributing to white matter damage and neuronal loss (Donat et al, 2021; May et al., 2024; Heneka et al, 2025). The aim of this proposal is to investigate the characteristics of the morphological and functional disturbances in the wall of the blood vessels after TBI and associate them with neuropathological events leading to synaptic loss and cognitive impairment, and to determine whether there are sex differences. In addition, we aim to examine the therapeutic effect of ANXA1 treatment to reverse these effects (Ries et al, 2016; 2021). For this purpose, we will use the single impact model of TBI (the closed head injury), since it is very translational model and been associated with vascular damage. We will determine whether the alterations in the neurovascular unit (NVU) observed in the mouse model follow the same pattern as in post-mortem human TBI cases. The strength of this project lies in the multidisciplinary technology used to investigate the contribution of TBI to vascular alterations and how they affect neurodegeneration in animal models of TBI as well as in tissue from TBI patients. The study of the mechanisms linking TBI and dementia is important and relevant for society, particularly for preventing dementia long term.

Application process:

Applicants must hold (or obtain by October 2026) a first or upper-second-class honours degree or equivalent in a neuroscience, computational neuroscience or cardiovascular science or related discipline. A Master’s degree in a related research is highly desirable but not essential. Applicants must also meet Imperial College’s English language requirements – further details can be found at  https://www.imperial.ac.uk/study/pg/apply/requirements/english/ [4]. All Imperial College London PhD entry requirements [5] must be met.

Applicants should submit their CV and a cover letter, including full contact details of two referees, to Prof Magdalena Sastre, apply online [6]. We regret that due to the large volume of applications received, we are only able to notify those shortlisted for interview.

Links:

To apply for this job please visit www.findaphd.com [12].