Hodge PhD opportunities

The new Hodge Centre will forge close links with partners in industry, the NHS and other organisations to improve collaboration, and accelerate the pace at which research is translated into treatments.

The centre will take the latest research findings from the University’s world-class neuroscience researchers and use them to develop new drugs and therapies for severe mental health conditions.

Between 2023 and 2028, the centre will provide 18+ fully funded PhD scholarships. The Hodge PhD scholarship programme will train and nurture the brightest young researchers in the skills needed to address the complex problem of brain disorders.

Each studentship will cover Home tuition fees, a stipend at the UKRI rate and a generous contribution towards the consumable costs of each project.

We are currently supporting our first six postgraduate research students. We intend to fund a further seven studentships per year for October intakes in 2024 and 2025.

Current Opportunities

Genomics-first approaches for identifying novel drug targets for psychotic disorders

Psychotic experiences (hallucinations, delusions) occur in several forms of mental illness, particularly the most severe conditions of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Their treatment is commonly based on the prescription of antipsychotic medication, a class of drugs primarily targeting dopamine receptors. While these can be effective, there is no widely accepted "first line" drug that most people respond to; each person needs to be treated through a trial-and-error process that can take years to optimise, and in some cases, no effective treatment can be found.

As the basic biology involved in psychosis is still poorly understood, devising novel treatments to supersede or complement current drugs is difficult. Research using the genomic data of people with psychosis can reveal genes and biological pathways that contribute to the risk of these conditions. Still, decades of work have shown that many thousands of individuals have to be analysed for reliable discoveries to be made.

This PhD proposal will access the largest samples in the world of those with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in collaboration with the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium. Its first aim is to use state-of-the-art bioinformatics to discover biological processes linking schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, as well as others across the spectrum of psychotic disorders. The genes and genetic variants found by this project will then be linked to data on psychotic symptoms and treatment outcomes in other cohorts from Cardiff University and the UK Mental Health Platform. The resulting genomic evidence will allow the candidate to lead a novel therapeutic target identification effort through a partnership with Cardiff University Medicines Discovery Institute, supported by Takeda Pharmaceuticals.

Please contact Dr Antonio Pardinas, PardinasA@cardiff.ac.uk for more information about this project.

This project can start either July 2025 or October 2025.

Application forms and further information about applying for this project can be obtained from HodgeAdmin@cardiff.ac.uk.

All information is also available on the Find a PhD website.

Enquiries

All general enquiries should be addressed to: