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
A SPATIAL BARCODE MAP TO TACKLE CANCER
To understand diseases like cancer, scientists need to know both which genes are active in cells and where those cells are located within tissue. Spatial transcriptomics enables this by combining gene activity data with tissue imaging, and this project will advance it through a new Spatial Barcode Map (SBM) technology that maps every gene in each cell while preserving its position. This will allow researchers to study interactions between cancer and immune cells at single-cell resolution, improving diagnosis and treatment development.
USING AI TO PREDICT WHEN DEMENTIA BECOMES IRREVERSIBLE
Amyloid build-up in brain blood vessels disrupts Intramural Periarterial Drainage (IPAD), the normal clearance process of this toxic protein, silently driving dementia for decades before symptoms appear. This project will use AI and computational modelling to predict when IPAD fails and the disease reaches an irreversible stage. By identifying this early tipping point, it will enable earlier diagnosis and more effective treatment.
TACKLING AIR POLLUTION IN ASTHMA CARE
Breathing polluted air worsens asthma, increasing the risk of attacks, hospitalisation and death. This project will develop a cutting-edge webtool for implementation within healthcare settings that provides personalised advice to help people with asthma reduce their exposure to air pollution. By supporting patients and healthcare professionals, it aims to better control their symptoms and lower the risk of asthma attacks.
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
Immunotherapy uses antibodies to activate the immune system to fight cancer, but current treatments are not effective for all patients. This project will design next-generation immunostimulatory antibodies by combining structural biology and computer modelling to understand how they bind and activate immune cells. By refining their structure and function, it aims to develop more powerful and effective cancer treatments.
This 3 year position will cost £213,500
Advanced Laser Solutions to Combat Sight Loss
Our interdisciplinary team, including laser physicists from the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) and ophthalmologists from the University Hospital Southampton, is developing an innovative solution to enhance the availability of transplantable corneal tissue.
This project would cost £222,500
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
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.