PANINI PhD Studentship/job advertisement: ESR2
Title of PhD project: Assessing the impact of physical activity in ageing with a chair-based intervention in populations with differing pre-existing frailty and independence.
Host Institution and Supervisors: University of Birmingham, UK: Dr Anna C. Phillips & Prof Janet Lord.
Description: Current demographic trends indicate that by the year 2020 almost 1 in 5 of the European population will be aged 65 and over and the number of people over 85 will triple by 2050. Although life expectancy is increasing the period of life spent in good health is not keeping pace and most Europeans spend their last decade in poor health. Consequently, the need to understand the factors influencing health in old age and develop and validate interventions and health policies to ensure more of our older adults achieve healthy and active ageing, has never been more urgent. However, despite the considerable impact of lifestyle factors (diet, physical activity) on healthy ageing there is a surprising lack of multi-disciplinary research (i.e. integrating biology, psychology, physiology) examining their influence on the ageing process. This PhD fellowship is part of a Marie Sklodowska Curie Innovative Training Network – PANINI (Physical Activity and Nutrition INfluences In ageing) and it will examine the impact of physical activity in older adults with pre-existing frailty and limited mobility and independence levels. The study will recruit semi-dependent older adults living in supported housing to take part in a seated physical activity intervention suitable for older adults (with the Move It Or Lose It programme). The intervention is planned to be 3 times a week for 10 weeks and is already established as effective at improving mobility and strength. This study will extend to comprehensive pre- and post-intervention assessment of biomarkers of health and wellbeing including markers of endocrine function and inflammation status (serum cortisol:DHEAS ratio, C-reactive protein, inflammatory cytokines), muscle function and body composition. A second study will validate an adapted version of the intervention in more frail individuals living in residential care assessing participants pre- and post-intervention using a subset of the biomarkers identified in study 1 as being modifiable. This will assess the feasibility of the intervention in this setting, and the impact of dose and pre-existing frailty level on the effectiveness of the intervention in altering biomarkers of health and wellbeing.
Candidates should have a strong Bachelors (2i or equivalent GPA score) or Masters Degree in the life sciences e.g., Health Psychology, Biomedical Sciences, Sport and Exercise Sciences, Physiology, and an interest in developing skills within a multi-disciplinary approach to healthy ageing research.
Notes:
• There are 11 available PhD studentships in the PANINI network. For details see: http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/generic/panini/index.aspx
• To apply for this particular PhD, see: www.hr.bham.ac.uk/jobs please quote Job Reference 51808
• This studentship is part of an international training network – Physical Activity and Nutrition INfluences In ageing (PANINI) including cross-Europe training and secondments.
• Living allowance: 3110 Euro per month multiplied by country coefficient for host (120.3% for the UK). Mobility allowance: 600 Euro per month. Family Allowance: if applicable 500 Euro per month.
• This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No [675003].
Eligibility rules:
• The candidate must not have lived in host country for more than 12 months in previous 3 years to appointment.
• The candidate must be in first four years (full-time equivalent research experience) of research career at time of recruitment (1st day of post). Research career dates from date of degree which entitles person to start on PhD degree (e.g. BSc, MSc).
• The PhD student will be recruited as an Early Stage Researcher (ESR) so will be a member of staff, with salary subject to national tax and social security deductions and benefits.