PhD Studentship: Uncovering Enhancer Control of Blood and Cardiovascular Fate Using Single-cell Multi-omics

This four-year PhD studentship offers interdisciplinary training in developmental biology, single-cell genomics, and computational biology across the University of East Anglia and the Earlham Institute. The selected candidate will examine how enhancers regulate gene expression during the emergence of blood, endothelial, and cardiac lineages in chick embryos. The research integrates single-cell RNA-sequencing and ATAC-sequencing data with in vivo experimental validation using fluorescent reporters and CRISPR-based perturbations. The successful applicant will work within a collaborative supervisory team and is expected to conduct independent research, analyze complex datasets, and contribute to scientific publications.

• Integrate single-cell RNA-sequencing and ATAC-sequencing datasets to reconstruct gene-regulatory networks.
• Identify and characterize candidate enhancers linked to specific cell states and developmental trajectories.
• Clone candidate enhancers into fluorescent reporter constructs for visualization in living embryos.
• Perform CRISPR-based perturbation and motif mutagenesis to test enhancer function in vivo.
• Collaborate across institutions with the supervisory team and present research findings at scientific meetings.