PhD Studentship: One Cell at a Time: Uncovering Enhancer Control of Blood and Cardiovascular Fate Using Single-cell Multi-omics

Overview

This PhD studentship focuses on uncovering enhancer control of blood and cardiovascular fate using single-cell multi-omics. The cardiovascular system is the initial functional organ system formed during vertebrate development, arising from the lateral plate mesoderm. Cardiac progenitor cells form the heart, while hematoendothelial progenitors produce blood and vascular endothelium. While several transcription factors governing cardiovascular development are recognized, the specific enhancers controlling the timing and location of these gene activations remain less understood.

Participants will investigate how enhancer activity shifts during the emergence of blood, endothelial, and cardiac lineages within the chick embryo. The work combines gene-expression and chromatin-accessibility data to integrate single-cell RNA-sequencing and ATAC-sequencing data, build gene-regulatory networks, and find candidate enhancers linked to specific cell states and developmental trajectories. Experimental methods involve cloning candidate enhancers into fluorescent reporter constructs to observe activity in living embryos, alongside using CRISPR-based perturbation and motif mutagenesis to test how selected enhancers regulate gene expression, cell behavior, and fate decisions in vivo. The supervisory team spans the University of East Anglia and the Earlham Institute, featuring Dr Gi Fay Mok, Professor Andrea Münsterberg, Dr Iain Macaulay, and Dr Wilfried Haerty.

What you get

The project is supported by a four-year Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership PhD DTP studentship. The award covers tuition fees paid directly to the university and provides a stipend for living expenses at the 2026/27 rate of £21,805 per annum. Additionally, recipients receive a Research Training Support Grant of £5,000 per year throughout the duration of the studentship.

Key dates

The closing date for applications is 23:59 on 30 November 2026.