Supervisors: Dr Helen Stolp, Dr Claire Thorton

Department: Comparative Biomedical Sciences 

Project Details:

In the UK, 10% of all births occur preterm, with 25-30% (~15,000) of these individuals subsequently diagnosed with neurological injury that significantly impacts their health, the well-being of their family, and society. Delayed maturation of the white matter tracts within the brain is a key risk factor for subsequent neurological injury, however, our capacity to measure subtle features of injury and link them to outcome is still limited. Part of this limitation is due to a narrow focus on what may contribute to delayed maturation or injury within the white matter tracts.  

This project will utilise tissue from an established model of perinatal brain injury and apply immunofluorescence techniques to identify multiple cell types within the white matter tracts over a developmental period. High quality light microscopy and advanced image analysis techniques will be used to map changes in cell structure and orientation within the white matter detect gross and subtle differences as they arise and modify over time.

Once developed, this method will be used to determine age and regional specific disruption in white matter development that correlates with long-term behavioural abnormalities. It will also be applied to identify the capacity of a novel therapy to reduce white matter injury in the preterm brain.

References:

1. Yates, A, Kislitsyna E, Martin C, et al., Stolp H. (2022). Montelukast reduces grey matter abnormalities and functional deficits in a mouse model of inflammation-induced encephalopathy of prematurity. Journal of Neuroinflammation, 19: 265. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12974-022-02625-5
2. Mottahedin A, Zhang X, Zelco A, et al., Phoulady, H. (2019). A novel image segmentation method for the evaluation of inflammation-induced cortical and hippocampal white matter injury in neonatal mice. Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy, 96: 79-85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jchemneu.2018.12.009.
3. Van Tilborg E, van Kammen C, de Theije C, et al., Nijboer, C. (2017). A quantitative method for microstructural analysis of myelinated axons in the injured rodent brain. Scientific Reports. 7: 16492. DOI:10.1038/s41598-017-16797-1
4. Nazeri A, Krsnik Z, Kostovic, I. et al., Sotiras A. (2022). Neurodevelopmental patterns of early postnatal white matter maturation represent distinct underlying microstructures and histology. Neuron, 110:4015-4030.e4. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2022.09.020

Requirements
Essential

• Must meet our standard MRes entry requirements

Desirable

• Experience with histological image analysis and image analysis software (ImageJ, Matlab, Python); Neuroscience / Cell biology / Developmental biology background.

Training in relevant techniques and project background will be provided to the successful candidate within the research group. This can be taken full-time (12months FTE) project commencing in October 2026, based at RVC's Camden campus.

Funding

Partially funded: The MRes student will be expected to meet their course fees and living expenses.

All other project costs will be met by the supervisor.  

Please note that EU/EEA and Swiss national students may no longer be eligible for the “Home” rate of tuition fees, dependent on personal circumstances (including immigration status and residence history in the UK) and UK government rules which are currently being developed. For up-to-date information on fees for EU/EEA and Swiss national students following Brexit please see our fees and funding page.

How to Apply:

Deadline: 8th May 2026

For more information on the application process and English Language requirements see How to Apply.

Interviews will take place remotely (Teams, Zoom etc) within 4 weeks of the closing date.We welcome informal enquiries - these should be directed to hstolp@rvc.ac.uk