PhD studentships Institute of Psychiatry King's College London

2 PhD studentships are available in the South London Diabetes Cohort study (SOUL-D) which is a prospective study examining the effects of depression in 2000 newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes.

3 year project: Epidemiology of depression in diabetes: identifying risk factors, mechanisms, course and consequences. Ref: K111

First supervisor: Dr Khalida Ismail

Depression is a common problem in diabetes and is associated with worse biomedical outcomes and increased mortality. Little is understood as to the risk factors for depression, what is its natural history and how biological, social and psychological factors interact to increase morbidity and mortality. You will be joining an established and friendly team in the Diabetes Research Group. You will be expected to develop additional hypotheses and appropriate methodologies to test them and contribute substantively towards data collection. This post suits a student who wishes a career in public health, medical informatics or clinical epidemiology.

3 year project: The role of inflammation in the course of depression in type 2 diabetes. Ref: 1211

First supervisor: Dr Khalida Ismail, Dept of Psychological Medicine, IoP, KCL
Second supervisor: Professor John Pickup, Dept Diabetes, KCL

There is emerging evidence that depression is associated with an innate immune response and this may play a role in its adverse effects on type 2 diabetes which itself has an inflammatory pathogenesis. You will join an established and friendly team in the Diabetes Research Group. You will develop additional hypotheses and appropriate methodologies to test them and contribute substantively towards data collection. The project will be of interest to students who want to combine basic sciences and epidemiology methodologies.

Department of Psychological Medicine
The department focuses on the interface between psychiatry and medicine, psychiatry and occupation, psychiatry and the military, and psychiatry in various settings. The Head of Department is Professor Simon Wessely, who is also Vice Dean for Academic Psychiatry.

Award type
The stipend is £16,500 (2010/11). Home/EU tuition fees will be met. There will be some funding for attendance to courses and conferences. The studentship will only fully fund applications who are eligible for home/EU fees. Overseas students would have to pay the difference (approximately £10,000).
Study information

Start month:

1/1/2011. End 31/12/2013

Funding information

Funding applies to:
Open to applicants from a range of countries

Contacts and how to apply

Academic contact:

For further information or enquiries please contact Dr Khalida Ismail khalida.2.ismail@kcl.ac.uk.
Administrative contact and how to apply:

Apply online at https://myapplication.kcl.ac.uk/

On the online application form, please select “Psychological Medicine Division MPhil/PhD (Full-time)” from the programme list, and select January 2011 as the programme start date. Quote the reference in the Research Proposal box. Please note, you do not have to submit a Research Proposal. You should use that space on the online form to describe your research interests and ideas while also using the Personal Statement and Supporting Information section to give the short-listing panel a clear idea of why you are the best person for this post.

Please include details of 2 referees, including their email addresses. Your referees will be contacted prior to your interview.