PhD studentship at the NIHR Healthtech Research Centre for Brain Health

Award details

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia, affecting over 50 million individuals globally and significantly impacting their families and social care systems. While magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) serves as a critical diagnostic biomarker for AD, limitations such as high costs, equipment requirements, claustrophobia, and safety concerns hinder its accessibility. The emergence of portable, low-cost MRI technology presents a promising alternative for detecting neurodegenerative changes, stratifying dementia subtypes, and monitoring responses to therapies.

Aims

This project aims to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of ultra-low-field MRI (ULF-MRI) compared to high-field MRI in assessing brain changes in dementia patients.

Methods

This multi-centre feasibility study will recruit patients from memory clinics at South London and Maudsley (SLaM) and Kent and Medway Partnership NHS Trust (KPMT).

Objectives/Project Plan

Year 1 will focus on ethical approvals and initial data collection. Year 2 will quantitatively assess the correlation between ULF-MRI and high-field MRI while refining imaging algorithms using machine learning/deep learning. Year 3 will complete data analysis, and evaluate the feasibility of ULF-MRI in clinical settings. The project promises to provide valuable insights into the diagnostic capabilities of ULF-MRI and its potential for transforming management.

Supervisors

Dr Ashwin Venkataraman, Consultant Old Age Psychiatrist (Brain Health) and NIHR Clinical Lecturer at the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience

Email: ash.venkataraman@kcl.ac.uk

Professor Dag Aarsland, Professor of Old Age Psychiatry and Director of the Healthtech Research Centre in Brain Health, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience

Email: dag.aarsland@kcl.ac.uk

Dr František Váša, Lecturer in Machine Learning and Computational Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience

Email: frantisek.vasa@kcl.ac.uk

Professor Steve Williams, Professor of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience

Email: steve.williams@kcl.ac.uk

Key references

Venkataraman, A. V., Marshall, C., & Rittman, T. (2023, January 3). Automated brain image analysis in dementia using artificial intelligence: a roadmap for the development of clinical tools.

https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/myuq7

Váša, F., Bennallick, C., Bourke, N. J., Padormo, F., Baljer, L., Briski, U., Cawley, P., Arichi, T., Wood, T. C., Lythgoe, D. J., Dell’Acqua, F., Booth, T. C., Venkataraman, A. V., Ljungberg, E., Deoni, S. C. L., Moran, R. J., Leech, R., Williams, S. C. R.
Ultra-low-field brain MRI morphometry: test-retest reliability and correspondence to high-field MRI
https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.08.14.607942

Young, P. N. E., Estarellas, M., Coomans, E., Srikrishna, M., Beaumont, H., Maass, A., Venkataraman, A. V., Lissaman, R., Jimenez, D., Betts, M. J., McGlinchey, E., Berron, D., O'Connor, A., Fox, N. C., Pereira, J. B., Jagust, W., Carter, S. F., Paterson, R. W., & Scholl, M. Imaging biomarkers in neurodegeneration: current and future practices

https://doi.org/10.1186/s13195-020-00612-7

Background information

The NIHR Healthtech Research Centre (HRC) in Brain Health and King's College London are offering a three-year PhD studentship.

The HRC in Brain Health taps into the best available technology to build important new tools that will help us deliver new treatments, better ways of diagnosing dementia and early cognitive impairment and improved care. Our aim is to improve the brain health of older people through better treatment and support, helping people to live longer, healthier lives.

The HRC is hosted by the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and led by Professor Dag Aarsland, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, together with Professor Clive Ballard at University of Exeter Medical School.

The South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust is the UK’s largest NHS mental health service provider with a long history of involvement in translational research and training in partnership with the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s College London.

The Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience is the largest academic community in Europe dedicated to the study, treatment and prevention of mental health problems and neurodegenerative disease.  It is the world’s leading centre for mental health research in terms of citations of our publications.  In the 2021 Research Excellence Framework the IoPPN was judged to have a 100% 'outstanding' (4*) world leading research environment.  The impact of its research outside academia scored 92%  'outstanding' (4*) and 8% 'very considerable' (3*).

Award value

Stipend - £20,622 per annum for three years

Research Studentship Fees:

• Year 1 - £7,500.00
• Year 2 - £7,950.00
• Year 3 - £8,427.00
• Total = £23,877.00

Eligibility criteria

Funding is available for one three-year PhD studentship to commence 1 June 2025.

The award covers full UK rate tuition fees and a stipend (currently £20,622 per year).

Overseas applicants may apply but will need to cover the difference in tuition fees. Overseas applicants need to identify themselves as such in the cover letter and present a clear plan on how the difference in tuition fees will be covered.

For full details of all the different categories of student who can be classified as home, please read UKCISA guidance, including the explanatory information provided in this PDF guide. If you do not fit into one of these categories, you are most likely classified as overseas.

The programme is very competitive and applicants must have, or be predicted to obtain at least a 2.1 or equivalent overseas qualification in a relevant science subject. In addition, we are particularly seeking applicants who have relevant research experience using healthcare data.

Applicants for these studentships must meet the King's College London Band D English language requirements. Any offer you are made will be conditional upon you meeting these requirements prior to enrolment. Further information is available on the King's College London English language entry requirements page.

In line with the NIHR's national strategy we aim to foster an inclusive environment, engage the talents and energy of diverse people in all areas of our work, and to improve the relevance and quality of our research. To do this we will widen access for greater diversity and inclusion of applicants across under-represented groups. This includes, but is not restricted to gender and sexuality, diverse racial and ethnic groups, people from different geographical regions of varied socio-economic backgrounds, people with disabilities or lived experience of mental health issues.

Application process

Applying to the programme is a three-stage process:

Stage One consists of submitting your CV and a cover letter to Dr Ash Venkataraman using unitemri@kcl.ac.uk with subject “PhD 2025” by midnight (23:59 GMT) on 14 February 2025.

The cover letter (max. 1000 words) should clearly identify you as a UK or overseas student (as per UKCISA guidance), and further describe how your qualifications and relevant experience make you suitable for this PhD (in particular your experience working with neuroimaging (computational skills for medical image processing and/or machine/deep learning, and experience with dementia patients), your motivation for applying and your future career plans. Overseas applicants should further provide a clear plan (max. 200 words) on how the difference in tuition fees will be covered.

Please also provide the details of two referees. References will only be sought for shortlisted candidates.

Stage Two

Successful candidates will be invited to attend a panel interview towards the end of February. References will be requested.

Stage Three

Successful candidates will be asked to submit an application and Project Approval Form (PAF) via King’s Apply where final checks on academic qualifications, English language requirements and fee status will be made.