The TRP(A) Back to King's

I originally applied for the MRC Doctoral Training Partnership in Biomedical Sciences at King's in 2020. However, despite getting to the interview stage, I failed to obtain a place in the highly competitive program. But determined to succeed, I re-applied the following year and am now in my third year of the Neuroscience-Mental Health theme.

Diabetes is one of the major health issues of our time, currently affecting more than 573 million people worldwide. The most common complication is diabetic sensory neuropathy (DPN), where patients report pain, and most predominantly, sensory loss, which contributes to foot ulcers and amputation. Unfortunately, current therapeutics are only effective in 30% of the patients, leaving 70% with unsatisfactory symptoms relief. Interestingly, diabetic mice lacking the transient receptor potential ankyrin (TRPA1) are protected from the anatomical loss of nerve fibres. TRPA1 is an ion channel expressed in a large subset of sensory neurons, activated by the pungent ingredients found in mustard oil and garlic. My research is focusing on unveiling the role of TRPA1 in the pathophysiology of sensory loss in diabetic neuropathy.

The idea of pursuing a PhD arose in my second year of BSc in Pharmacology at King's, after taking the research skills module. However, at the end of my BSc I was lacking critical hands-on skills as my final year research project was conducted fully remotely due to COVID. Hence, I applied and successfully got a place to join the MSc in Pharmacology at the University of Oxford, where I investigated the biochemical basis of responses to chronic hypoxia.

While approaching the end of my time at Oxford, I came across PhD projects offered by the King's Medical Research Council Doctoral Training Partnership Industrial Studentship (MRC DTP iCASE). The strong translational aspect of my current project, with the prospect of changing millions of lives for the better, intrigued me the most. Furthermore, I was interested in strengthening my interdisciplinary mindset, by applying my Pharmacology knowledge to Neuroscience and Endocrinology, the two electives of my final year of BSc.

The MRC DTP iCASE studentships are peculiar as they provide the unique opportunity to receive high-quality training in a non-academical setting during the PhD. This sounded very appealing as I wanted to advance in academia, while getting a taste for what a career in industry could look like. After the fulfilling time I spent at King's as an undergraduate student, the decision to accept the offer and come back was straightforward.

My project is partly funded by Grunenthal, a global leader in pain management. Hence, I will visit them in Aachen, Germany, for my placement, where I will make use of their state-of-the-art sequencing platforms and human-induced pluripotent stem cells to elucidate mechanisms of diabetic neuropathy.