Cardiovascular research

Qualifications	Duration	Start dates	Application period
PhD (MPhil also available)	Full time: 3–4 years Part time: 6–8 years	February and October	January to April

Qualifications
PhD (MPhil also available)

Duration
Full time: 3–4 years
Part time: 6–8 years

Start dates
February and October

Application period
January to April

At The Open University we investigate cardiovascular diseases from the level of single cell all the way to the patient. Utilising state-of-the-art equipment, it is our aim to gain mechanistic insights and develop technology which has the potential to be of direct benefit to patients suffering from such diseases; ultimately assisting with the detection and treatment.

Key themes of our research are:

Target identification and validation: By focusing on underlying cellular mechanisms of cardiovascular disease utilising imaging, electrophysiology and molecular biology, we aim to identify and validate novel treatment targets.

Identifying and understanding risk factors for cardiovascular disease: By focussing on specific risk factors for disease (e.g. obesity) we aim to understand how these alterations can influence disease progression.

Improved monitoring of disease: By focusing on clinical tools that will better monitor cardiovascular disease which can then be used to mitigate risk.

Entry requirements

Minimum 2:1 undergraduate degree (or equivalent). If you are not a UK citizen, you may need to prove your knowledge of English.

Potential research projects

Electrophysiological Characterisation of Pulmonary Vein Cells in Murine Lung Slices
Risk Factors Influencing Ion Channels and Calcium dynamics in Atrial Fibrillation
Improved monitoring of disease using heart rate variability
Use of artificial intelligence in cardiovascular disease monitoring and evaluation

Current/recent research projects

Effect of CLN3 disease on organellar characteristics
Optimising a novel co-culture system to study cardiomyocyte-epicardial adipocyte interactions
The Ultrastructural and abnormal calcium handling in pulmonary vein sleeve cells, atrial and ventricular myocytes during ageing

Potential supervisors

Dr Duncan Banks – Clinical studies, Heart rate variability, entropy
Dr Martin Bootman – Calcium signalling, IP3 receptors, Imaging
Dr Francesco Crea – Biomarkers for cancer
Dr Daniel Johnson – Cardiac electrophysiology, Calcium handling, Sympathetic control
Dr Katja Rietdorf – Calcium Signalling, Two pore channels, Pulmonary veins, CLN3