PhD Studentship - NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Centre - Developing Experimental Medicine Trial Platforms

Award summary 100% tuition fees (paid at home rate) and a minimum annual stipend of £18,622 (2023/ 2024 UKRI rate) with support for research costs. International candidates will be required to fund the difference between the home and international fees. Overview Conducting clinical trials for patients with sarcopenia is challenging, and these trials often struggle to recruit enough patients. They have also been very few trials for sarcopenia at the start of the testing process – Experimental Medicine studies that test new interventions with a small group of people in great detail. We are developing a novel, efficient approach to conducting these early clinical studies called a platform for sarcopenia trials.   This exciting PhD based around platform trials methods development and evaluation will investigate multiple aspects of development and delivery of Experimental Medicine Trial Platforms for ageing, sarcopenia and multimorbidity. The PhD student will focus on developing and testing the techniques and process is that we need to successfully conduct these trials. In particular the PhD student will work with patients with sarcopenia, the public and a range of researchers to:   Identify which measurements should be included in all similar studies for sarcopenia trials,   Develop and test new ways of recruiting people with sarcopenia to trials, including using routinely collected electronic health records to identify patients who may have sarcopenia  Develop tools to help researchers decide whether the results of these Experimental Medicine studies are good enough to progress to larger randomised controlled trials as a next step in the research journey This PhD will provide an ideal opportunity for an individual with an interest in clinical trials methodology to further develop their skills and expertise in a cutting edge, interdisciplinary environment. Number of awards: 1 Start date: September 2024 Award duration: 36 months Sponsor: NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre  Supervisors Professor Miles Witham Professor Avan Sayer Eligibility criteria You must have or be expected to gain a minimum 2:1 Honours degree or international equivalent in a subject relevant to the proposed PhD project. A master’s qualification will be advantageous.  Applicants whose first language is not English require an IELTS score of 6.5 with a minimum of 5.5 in each subsection. International applicants may require an ATAS clearance certificate prior to obtaining their visa and to study on this programme. How to apply You must apply through the University’s Apply to Newcastle Portal In ‘Course choice’ tab, put ‘Postgraduate Research’ in 'Type of Study', ‘Full Time’ in ‘Mode of Study’, ‘2024’ in ‘Year of Entry’, code ‘8440F’ in ‘Course Title’, blank in ‘Research Area’. Press ‘Search’, select ‘PhD Translational and Clinical Research (FT)’, and save selection. Either upload a document or write into ‘Personal Statement’. Put code ‘TC089’ in ‘Studentship/Partnership Reference’. When prompted for research proposal, select ‘Write Proposal’. Type in the title of the research project from this advert. A research proposal is not required. Please upload a covering letter, CV and state how your interests and experience relate to the project. Degree transcripts/certificates and, if English is not your first language, a copy of your English language qualification if completed must be uploaded. Contact details: Miles.Witham@newcastle.ac.uk