PhD Opportunities
University of Cambridge, Wellcome Trust & GlaxoSmithKline Clinical PhD Programme in Translational Medicine and Therapeutics (TMAT)
Director: Professor Morris Brown, FMedSci
Deputy Director: Professor Ed Bullmore, FmedSci
Faculty:
Dr Thomas Krieg
Dr Ian Wilkinson
Dr Kevin O'Shaughnessy
Dr Anthony Davenport
Dr Joseph Cheriyan
Back to Theme Leads
Applications are invited for two or three Clinical PhD Fellowships. Each is funded at the appropriate clinical salary on the ST3-7 scale for up to 3.5 years, and provides £45K consumables together with University and College fees, and generous budgets for study and travel. The optional extra 6 months permits fellows either to further develop the proposed clinical project, or to undertake a full 3 years of research before writing up. Successful Fellows can then compete for the post-doctoral Clinical Lectureships in the TMAT programme in order to continue their research and finish specialist clinical training.
The Translational Medicine & Therapeutics (TMAT) Clinical Fellowship programme is a collaboration between the University of Cambridge, the Wellcome Trust, and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), designed to train the next generation of leaders in the biologically driven discovery of new medicines.
We are looking for excellent medical graduates with a passion for biomedical science and a long-term career intention to combine their clinical and scientific strengths in the effort to discover new therapeutics for disorders. Our unique training opportunities arise from the partnership in Cambridge between the superb University research environment and world-class facilities for drug-discovery and development within GSK. Fellows will be supervised by a distinguished faculty of University and GSK supervisors in fields including Clinical Pharmacology, Cardiovascular Medicine, Metabolic Medicine, Neurosciences and Mental Health, Oncology, Pharmacological Sciences, and Therapeutic Immunology, as well as from partner organisations such as the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the BBSRC Babraham Institute.
The TMAT programme is distinctive from other clinical PhD programmes. Projects will provide training in some of the skills required to progress from identification of candidate druggable molecules, through to imaginative proof-of-concept studies in patients. Both basic and clinical research is appropriate. At a minimum, outline proposals should include a plan for designing, running and/or analysing one experimental medicine study involving human exposure to drugs. Successful candidates will be expected to engage collaboratively with GSK scientists in the study of drug targets, disease mechanisms, or human pharmacology.
The objective of these TMAT-specific elements of training is to create the new generation of clinical scientists who can translate freely between bench and bedside, and between public and private sectors. The training will not limit the scientific diversity of applications, and indeed preference will be given to those with an interdisciplinary approach to the problems addressed. A small number of outline projects, already provided by participating University or GSK scientists, is available for review below. Applicants might wish to pursue one or more of these listed projects, or to develop their own project ideas in collaboration with a prospective supervisor. Applicants and their potential supervisors are recommended to discuss proposals informally with a member of the TMAT faculty (listed above). This consultation is offered to help candidates identify opportunities for experimental medicine, GSK collaboration, and clinical pharmacology training. Written applications will be short-listed for interview of candidates.
The University of Cambridge has a strong history of graduate training and mentorship. The TMAT programme is based at the Addenbrooke's Centre for Clinical Investigation (ACCI), in the heart of Addenbrooke's Hospital. This building was funded by the Medical Research Council, British Heart Foundation, Wellcome Trust and GSK to promote collaboration among their various clinical research groups in Cambridge. The ACCI provides a central base for the TMAT Fellows and state-of-the-art clinical research facilities. There are many other leading clinical research groups and facilities located nearby on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, making this a vibrant, diverse and supportive clinical research training environment.
Go to: How to Apply
Example Projects from previous MPhil Students
- Supporting Information
- CATO
- Clinical Pharmacology Unit
- School of Clinical Medicine
- Medschl Webmail
- Medical Library
- Department of Medicine