Immune-mediated inflammatory conditions and cardiovascular risk – uncovering underlying mechanisms (Dr Nathalie Conrad)
PROJECT TITLE
Immune-mediated inflammatory conditions and cardiovascular risk – uncovering underlying mechanisms
SUPERVISORS
DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT
Patients with immune-mediated inflammatory conditions are at increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. Immune-mediated inflammatory conditions are of particular importance to women’s health as about 2/3 of patients are women.
There are many speculated mechanisms at play, including endothelial damage, effects on connective tissues, cytokine release, vasculitis, thrombocytopenia, venous or arterial thrombosis, and interference with lipid profiles. Underlying biological mechanisms also vary by individual autoimmune (and cardiovascular) disease and much research is still needed to understand these more fully.
This project will build up on our group’s work to investigate blood biomarkers, cardiac function and predisposing factors underlying the association between immune-mediated inflammatory conditions and cardiovascular risks. Different large-scale biomedical datasets are available for analysis, including large-scale electronic health records from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) and the UK Biobank.
We hope that this project will help the scientific community to better understand the underlying mechanisms in the development of cardiovascular risks associate with immune-mediated inflammatory conditions. Depending on the exact nature of our findings, this research could support the future development of prevention measures.
Our group has led important research at the interface between autoimmune disease epidemiology and cardiovascular risks associated with these conditions, a few examples listed below.
Conrad N et al. Autoimmune disorders and cardiovascular risk: A population-based study on 19 autoimmune disorders and 12 cardiovascular diseases in 22 million individuals in the UK, The Lancet, 2022, doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(22)01349-6.
Ferguson LD et al, Gout and incidence of twelve cardiovascular diseases: A case-control study including 152 663 individuals with gout and 709 981 matched controls, The Lancet Rheumatology, 2024, doi: 10.1016/S2665-9913(23)00338-7.
Candidates should have strong data analysis and statistics skills. Experience/training in immunology, rheumatology, cardiology, and/or epidemiology is not required but would be preferred.
TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES
The DPhil student will receive advanced training in epidemiological methods, data processing and data analysis for large-scale biomedical datasets, and biostatistics.
Further to that, the DPhil student will receive training in systematic literature reviews, scientific writing, presentation skills, and will work with a strong inter-disciplinary team of epidemiologists, immunologists, cardiologists, and statisticians to conduct high-quality research.
Funding Information
The position is not currently funded, however, we will assist the DPhil candidate in securing funding.
HOW TO APPLY
To apply for this research degree, please click here.