Health data analysis to identify the role of gene and environment in risk of cardiovascular diseases

Main Aim: To identify the role of environment and genes in risk of cardiovascular disease

Cardiovascular diseases including hypertension, myocardial infarction, heart failure, and stroke are the leading causes of mortality worldwide and are expected to keep rising. Modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors are recognised for cardiovascular diseases. Examples of modifiable risk factors include diet, sedentary lifestyle, and smoking. Sex, age, and genetic factors are among non-modifiable risk factors. Genetic factors can help us classify individuals in population into high risk and low risk groups. We can then target appropriate preventive strategies to these different groups accordingly and decrease burden of cardiovascular diseases.

This is an umbrella project for a series of PhD projects aiming to investigate the role of various genetic and environmental factors (e.g alcohol consumption, smoking, or environment affecting mental health) in cardiovascular diseases. We will use data from the UK Biobank on 500,000 individuals and analyse using statistical analysis methods and therefore you are required to have prior experience of working with a statistical software such as SPSS, SAS, STATA, or R. The projects involve working with human data and learning various skills in epidemiology and statistical analysis. Individuals with MSc degree in fields related to data analysis such as Data Science, Genomics, Epidemiology, Population Genetics, Statistics, and Bioinformatics or related disciplines and those who are experienced working with big data are encouraged to apply. Depending on the topic you choose, you will learn techniques such as mendelian randomisation, polygenic models, risk prediction and machine learning. These projects will be supervised by Dr Raha Pazoki. Please contact Dr Raha Pazoki for an informal discussion and instruction on how to move forward.

Brunel offers a number of funding options to research students that help cover the cost of their tuition fees, contribute to living expenses or both. See more information here: https://www.brunel.ac.uk/research/Research-degrees/Research-degree-funding. The UK Government is also offering Doctoral Student Loans for eligible students, and there is some funding available through the Research Councils. Many of our international students benefit from funding provided by their governments or employers. Brunel alumni enjoy tuition fee discounts of 15%.