Behavioural and endocrine analysis of stress responses and the roles of epigenetic mechanisms in developmental plasticity of stress phenotypes in zebrafish

Lead Supervisor: Dr Penelope Watt, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences (p.j.watt@sheffield.ac.uk)
Co-supervisors: Dr Jonathan Wood, Department of Neuroscience (j.d.wood1@sheffield.ac.uk); Professor Marysia Placzek, Department of Biomedical Science (m.placzek@sheffield.ac.uk).
This project will investigate whether exposure to stress during early development affects resilience to stressful stimuli in later life, and if so, whether such changes are heritable. This project will be of interest primarily to graduates in biology, zoology or neurobiology with some experience of molecular and developmental biology

Three fully funded PhD studentships are available to start in October 2012. The studentships are attached to a network of researchers interested in the adaptive responses to stress. Graduates in biological science, biomedical science, chemical biology or psychology are invited to apply.
The overall aim of this network is to improve our understanding of the adaptive mechanisms underlying stressful experiences, such as epileptic seizures, and develop new treatments for them. Two of these projects will harness the power of the zebrafish as a tractable model system for elucidating stress mechanisms and identifying new therapies. In parallel, a clinical research project will identify factors underlying susceptibility to stress related to epileptic seizures and evaluate potential treatments. The integrated nature of these studies will enable progress made in each project to impact positively on other research within the network.