PhD studentship, University of Exeter

Via www.jobs.ac.uk. The University of Exeter are inviting applications for a NERC-funded PhD studentship entitled 'Green Fluorescing Zebrafish and Health Impacts of Oestrogenic Chemicals' to commence in October 2011.

Exposure to chemicals that disrupt the body's hormone systems, so‐called endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), has been shown to have adverse effects in wildlife, causing disruptions in sexual development and function. We have published some of the most compelling evidence to date to show that life‐long exposure to specific oestrogenic EDCs can cause cumulative adverse reproductive health effects (in fish). In humans too it has been shown that inappropriate exposure to oestrogens can have adverse reproductive health effects, and potentially also wider health effects on the immune system, obesity and cardiovascular disease. Some of this work on humans has also been conducted collaboratively at Exeter. Although studies on human populations have suggested associations between increased exposure to EDCs and the aforementioned diseases, the underlying molecular mechanisms that might explain them remain unclear.

We have engineered a highly novel transgenic zebrafish (ERE‐TG) that can detect a wide range of oestrogens, including at environmentally relevant exposure concentrations, where the target responding tissues express a green fluorescent protein. Thus oestrogen exposed fish glow green in the target tissues that are being affected. Our system is the most advanced of its kind worldwide and provides us with an exciting and unparalleled model for probing the molecular basis of the health effects of oestrogens, which tend to be highly conserved across animal taxa. Please click on the link below for details of how to apply for this post. The closing date for applications is 30 June 2011.

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