POWERING PEOPLE AND DISCOVERY
FUND PHD RESEARCH
Support us to fund interdisciplinary PhD scholarships that power the speed and quality of life-changing research. Each four-year medical innovation scholarship costs £148,000 and enables exceptional students to tackle health challenges through cross-disciplinary collaboration. PhD researchers are the lifeblood of university research and the leaders of tomorrow; with competitive stipends, we can attract the very best minds. You can fully fund a scholarship or join a community of supporters to fund a place together.
OUR PHD PROJECTS
TACKLING CHILDHOOD CANCER
Brain and nervous system tumours are one of the biggest causes of cancer-related childhood deaths. This research aims to develop an innovative cancer treatment by harnessing the biological power of Zika virus to seek out and kill particular cell types, while leaving others unharmed. This could result in a new, life-saving treatment.
USING DATA TO DIAGNOSE DEMENTIA
Dementia with Lewy Bodies is often misdiagnosed, which means patients don’t always receive the most suitable treatment. This project will use data science to analyse swathes of patient data to identify who is at greatest risk of the disease. This will enhance treatment and management by enabling clinicians to make more accurate diagnoses, and flag people for clinical monitoring and review.
FIGHTING INFECTION WITH BUBBLE TECHNOLOGY
Bone infections can happen after an accidental bone fracture, or following surgery to implant a device, such as a hip replacement. The infections are difficult to treat and hard to live with. In this research project engineers will use innovative bubble technology to try to disrupt the infection and cure the patient.
Help accelerate life-saving breakthroughs
FUND POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH
Fund postdoctoral research and help us place skilled, early-career scientists at the forefront of groundbreaking, interdisciplinary projects. Postdoctoral researchers have completed their PhDs and are ready to pursue bold, untested ideas that could transform outcomes for patients. We’re ready to accelerate progress – we just need the right people in place. Your support will enable vital discoveries that could change the future of global health.
OUR POSTDOCTORAL PROJECTS
FUNDING A BETTER CURE FOR CANCER
Your donation could fund a postdoctoral researcher to explore how we can make immunotherapy more successful against breast cancer. This is a three-year position and costs £222,000.
DEVELOPING A SIMPLE NASAL TEST FOR DEMENTIA
With your help, we want to develop a simple nasal swab to test for dementia quickly and easily, before it’s too late. This is a four-year position and costs £190,000.
Targeting Microglial Senescence
Your donation could enable us to test microglial senescence contribution to frontotemporal dementia therapies, with significant promise to open new therapeutic avenues. This three-year postdoctoral research position will cost £232,000.00
FUND EQUIPMENT
Technology is advancing all the time, and the latest equipment allows research to happen faster, more accurately and more effectively. Without cutting-edge machinery, the pace of discovery is far slower than it needs to be – and for people who are suffering, speed matters. Tests that once took days can now be completed in seconds with the right high-tech kit. By investing in equipment ranging from £5,000 to £300,000, you can help power our cross-disciplinary research, accelerate breakthroughs and bring real change closer. Below are examples of the technology, get in touch today to learn more.
THE EQUIPMENT WE NEED
PHENOCYCLER-FUSION
£300,000
This imaging machine will allow researchers to analyse the proteins in tissue samples in unprecedented detail, enabling greater insight into cancer, dementia and infectious diseases. Currently we can only assess a few biomarkers at a time; this machine will analyse many at once, meaning we can work much faster. The University’s Human Tissue Bank has thousands of samples collected through routine treatment, ready to study.
LIVE-CELL ANALYSIS SYSTEM
£175,000
This imaging system examines live cells, monitoring samples in real-time. Our researchers will be able to watch how immune cells fight cancer cells, how an infectious bug is destroyed by other cells, or whether neuron cells are living or dying. Our experiments are currently done by monitoring cells at fixed points in time. Real-time monitoring would offer an entirely new level of analysis and massively speed up discoveries in cancer, dementia and infectious diseases.
TRANSCRANIAL DOPPLER
£50,000
This non‑invasive ultrasound machine measures how fast blood flows through the brain’s major arteries. It works by sending harmless sound waves through the skull. Our researchers will use it to detect subtle, very early changes in blood flow patterns that may signal the first stages of dementia, long before symptoms appear. While no current system can directly measure how efficiently the brain clears waste, tracking these early blood flow shifts provides vital clues to underlying disease markers.