BBSRC iCASE PhD : Ensuring chemical safety through toxicity studies in Daphnia using state-of-the-art molecular, imaging and modelling approaches

This exciting 4-year BBSRC iCASE PhD opportunity bridges the University of Birmingham’s (*) metabolomics team and Unilever’s Safety and Environmental Assurance Centre (SEAC), both having state-of-the-art facilities and renowned research programmes, thereby creating an excellent environment for this challenging yet impactful research project. 

* Winner of ‘University of the Year for Graduate Employment’, The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2015-16; 91% of our postgraduate researchers from the School of Biosciences were in work and/or further study six months after graduation. 

Project Description

A revolution is now occurring in bioscience, driven by the availability of highly sensitive molecular technologies that can generate ‘big data’ to drive new understandings of molecular function. These technologies can help to create quantitative models of organism function. Of major importance, and often overlooked, is modelling the effect that organisms can have on the stressor (to complement the more-often studied effect the stressor can have on the organism) – representing a critical element of exposure science. Understanding how species deal with increasing chemical stressors (both from natural sources and/or anthropogenic-activities) will deeply influence the way we manage the potential risk of these stressors. 

In a rapidly changing world with ecosystems under unprecedented pressures, leading to biodiversity loss at a rate never observed before, bio-analytical approaches used in tandem with computational modelling are key to deal with the problem. In an attempt to mitigate this pressure, there is an impelling need to understand the most sensitive physiological properties of organisms (and their underlying molecular mechanisms). To achieve this prognostically within a safety assessment framework, i.e. to characterize the stressor before it’s allowed to enter the environment, the decision-making requires quantitative exposure and effect models, as highlighted by the recent publication of an “opinion on the state-of-the-art of Toxicokinetic/Toxicodynamic effect models for regulatory risk assessment” by EFSA. This is where new, advanced, bio-analytical and molecular technologies can have a key role in the way we face this challenge, which we will explore within this PhD. 

Objectives

The overall aim of this PhD project is to understand the physiological properties involved in chemical absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) processes of an invertebrate model species, using state-of-the-art molecular and imaging tools, and to develop relevant physiology-based kinetic (PBK) models that can then be used to predict how chemicals are processed by this model species. It is intended that these models would immediately translate into Unilever’s risk assessment toolkit, highlighting the real-world impact of this PhD. 

Funding Notes

This BBSRC studentship is for 4 years. In addition to the payment of tuition fees, the award provides an annual stipend and funds for the laboratory studies. Unilever is also providing further funding for this studentship, inclusive of a £4,000 p/a stipend top-up, in addition to the standard BBSRC stipend the student will receive. 

Note that this PhD funding is for UK HOME STUDENTS ONLY, meaning it is open to UK citizens, as well as to EU citizens who have lived in the UK for the last three years.