PhD Studentship

Post Status: Fixed-term Contract or Specific Purpose Contract – Full-time or Part-time. 

Research Group / Department / School: Naci Lab at Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin 

Location: Lloyd Institute, Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin, College Green, Dublin 2, Ireland 

Reports to: Professor Lorina Naci, Associate Professor of Psychology 

Terms & Conditions: Fully funded. Annual stipend of €25,000. 

Hours of Work: Full-time for 4 years. Start in 09/2025

Post Summary 

Project Description 

PhD applications are invited to develop advanced neuroimaging biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease in mid-life, asymptomatic individuals. The Problem Dementia is a growing pandemic that presents profound challenges to health care systems, families and societies throughout the world. By 2050, the number of people living with 2 dementia worldwide could triple from 47 to 132 million, and the associated costs triple to $3 trillion. To reduce the future incidence of dementia, there is an immediate need for public health interventions that target modifiable risk factors. As exposure to these risk factors begins 20-40 years before dementia onset, interventions must be implemented in mid-life. However, the indicators of the disease process in mid-life are poorly understood, and the identification of targets of early intervention presents a great challenge. To address this critical knowledge gap, PREVENT, a large-scale population study carried out by Trinity College Dublin, Edinburgh, Cambridge, Oxford universities, and Imperial College London, aims to establish sensitive biomarkers of very early Alzheimer’s disease (AD) process. 

Professors Lorina Naci co-leads the PREVENT study at the Global Brain Health Institute, at Trinity College Dublin (TCD). At TCD, we will conduct the 3rd wave of longitudinal testing (year 8), in a cohort of mid-life individuals at high- and low-risk for late-life Alzheimer’s disease with an extensive array of assessments, previously taken at baseline and year 2 follow-up. The medical tests, including neuropsychological, neurological, lifestyle questionnaires, and bio sample analyses (e.g., plasma, saliva, CSF), will be performed by a clinical team at the Memory Clinic, St James’s Hospital, and the neuroimaging tests will be performed at the Siemens 3T scanner at Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, in Dublin, Ireland. 

The PhD Project 

The PhD student’s first objective will be to help conduct the 3rd testing wave of the PREVENT Dublin cohort. The second objective will be to help design and perform all relevant analyses to assess (a) the performance of established and novel pre-clinical neuroimaging markers of AD in mid-life in persons at high- relative to low-risk, and (b) the interaction between changes in neuroimaging biomarkers with clinical features, as well as the prediction of clinical decline from the baseline measures.

Person Specification 

Qualifications 

Applicants will hold a BA/BSc degree (or equivalent) in Psychology, Computer science, Neuroscience, or a related field