MRC/BHF Centre of Research Excellence in Advanced Cardiac Therapies (REACT) funded DPhil studentship.

We are excited to recruit a highly motivated and excited PhD Student as part of the MRC-BHF Centre in Advanced Cardiac Therapies (REACT). Established in 2025, REACT aims to develop novel therapeutic approaches to regenerate the injured heart and reverse established heart failure. This new Centre brings together world-leading scientists and clinicians from King's College London and the Universities of Oxford and Edinburgh, combined with other academic partners and biotech and pharmaceutical industry representatives, to develop new medicines and deliver them to the injured or failing heart. The Centre will widely disseminate its progress and key findings to the public and patients and is firmly committed to training, career development and promoting early career researchers. Project details: Despite advancements in survival rates for myocardial infarction (MI), the permanent loss of cardiomyocytes in surviving patients frequently results in progression to heart failure. The extent of cardiomyocyte death post-MI may be attenuated by a coordinated angiogenic response to salvage vulnerable cardiomyocytes. Unlike the endothelium of other organs, the cardiac endothelium demonstrates remarkably poor angiogenic potential in an ischaemic environment. Crucially, studies in adult mice and pigs in which cardiomyocyte proliferation is activated via gene therapy strategies have observed an enhanced neovasculogenic response. The origin of these newly formed vessels and the factors promoting this response remain unknown. In this project, we will combine lineage tracing mouse models with single cell omics and spatial transcriptomics to identify the cellular origin and transcriptional prolife of newly forming coronary endothelial cells in response to adult cardiomyocyte proliferation. Identified cardiomyocyte derived factors from in vivo studies will subsequently be fed into human induced pluripotent stem cell-based models of coronary vessel formation for functional validation. Selected candidates will then be prioritised for follow-up assessment in an adult mouse MI model using a translationally relevant gene therapy approach. Location: The student will be based at the Institute of Developmental and Regenerative Medicine (IDRM), Department of Physiology, Anatomy, and Genetics, University of Oxford. A world leading institute in regenerative medicine and vascular biology. Supervision: The student will be primarily supervised by Dr Ian McCracken, a BHF Immediate Fellow at the IDRM focusing on vascular development and regeneration. Start date: The student will commence their studies in Autumn 2025 as part of the Oxford MRC Doctoral Training Partnership. How to apply Please send all enquiries to Dr Ian McCracken (ian.mccracken@dpag.ox.ac.uk)