PhD Position at the University of Birmingham (UK): Advancing One Health through Nematode Toxicology

Project Description

This project aims to establish a high-throughput, multi-strain, multi-species nematode-based toxicity testing system to assess the environmental health impact of agrochemicals and pollutants. The research questions are divided into two key themes:

Standardization:

Scalability and Reproducibility - How can a high-throughput nematode-based system be optimized to provide scalable and reproducible chemical toxicity screening across multiple species?
Regulatory Integration - How well do toxicity responses in nematodes correlate with established environmental risk assessment metrics and regulatory frameworks?
Discovery:

1. Mechanistic Toxicity Insights - Can wild-type and genetically modified C. elegans strains, alongside other nematode species, provide insight into the mechanistic basis of chemical-induced developmental, neurobiological, reproductive, and behavioural effects of pesticides? focus on developmental neurotoxicity-based effects
2. Species Sensitivity Variation - How much do strain or species differences at the molecular scale cascade into different outcomes to agrochemicals, and what does this tell us about species variation in chemical sensitivity?
3. Comparative Toxicology - What are the shared mechanistic bases between nematode perturbed molecular pathways and those in humans, based on available comparative genomic, in vitro, and in vivo data?
4. Ecological Impact - What are the ecological implications of chemical exposure on soil biodiversity and ecosystem services, and how can this system be integrated into sustainable chemical risk assessment.

This is part of a larger project, so the PhD student will not address the entire set of research questions. Instead, they will focus on laying the foundation for Themes 1-4. The student will culture multiple species and strains, train with collaborating experts, and contribute to developing a system for efficiently culturing, exposing, and phenotyping nematodes using imaging systems and computational pipelines. Simultaneously, they will use molecular tools, including transcriptomics, CRISPR, and comparative genomics, to investigate how different neuroactive chemicals affect development, behaviour, and reproduction across species and strains, as well as how these outcomes vary based on underlying genetic differences.

The standardisation outcomes will include the development of a competitive high throughput testing system capable of rapidly phenotyping nematodes at the multi-species, multi-strain level. This system could be integrated into regulatory frameworks or commercialised with the partner organisation.

The discovery outcomes will focus on identifying the molecular and mechanistic drivers of variation in toxicity outcomes and understanding how these factors scale across species, including comparisons between nematodes and other toxicology models, including humans. Additionally, this knowledge could inform predictions about the impacts of chemicals on nematodes as primary biomass converters in soil agroecosystems.

Training & Collaboration:

• Work within an international collaboration between the University of Birmingham, Bayer Crop Science (Germany), and the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH)
• Receive training in high-throughput phenotyping, computational imaging, FAIR data practices, and mechanistic toxicology
• Participate in EU Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals (PARC) activities, including science-to-policy training and skills development
• Opportunity for research visits and collaboration with both Bayer and UKCEH

Apply here:

Required Qualifications:

• Background in biology, toxicology, environmental science, or a related field
• Interest in molecular biology, risk assessment, and applied toxicology
• Strong motivation to work at the interface of science, health, and environmental policy
• Some general lab and/or field experience in biology

Preferred Qualifications:

• MSc in biology, toxicology, environmental science, or a related field
• Peer-reviewed publication(s) in related field
• Specific experience working with nematodes or other model organisms

Funding Notes
UK ("Home") students: Successful applicants will receive substantial financial support, including a stipend matched to UKRI rates (25/26: £20,780), fee waivers (25/26: £5,006), and generous project consumables, travel and subsistence allowance.

International ("Overseas") students: Successful applicants may apply and receive funding at the equivalent rate of UK students, however the student will be responsible for payment of the outstanding fee balance.