PhD in High-Throughput Microfluidics

Applications are invited for a four-year PhD studentship. The studentship will start on 1st of October 2026/nProject Description/nMeningiomas are the most common primary brain tumours, yet there are limited targeted therapies for aggressive or unresectable tumours. This PhD project will employ an innovative high-throughput microfluidic CRISPR kinome screening platform to identify genes that sensitize meningioma cells to brigatinib./nUsing the Brunello kinome library, CRISPR sgRNAs will be introduced into primary meningioma cells. Cells will be exposed to brigatinib, then subjected to a state-of-the-art magnetic ranking cytometry microfluidic sorting platform. Phospho-ERK levels will be quantified as readouts of drug engagement, enabling the precise isolation of resistant and sensitized cell populations. RNA sequencing will be employed to determine the targets of sgRNAs in these populations. Bioinformatic analyses will reveal top candidates for synthetic lethality. Leading candidates will be validated using RNAi and pharmacological approaches, with a focus on drug repurposing to accelerate clinical translation./nThe project will be based at the University of Plymouth, leveraging a molecularly annotated biobank of primary meningioma tissues and established in vivo models. The project timeline spans four years with overlapping work packages encompassing CRISPR library screening, microfluidic sorting, single-cell sequencing, and functional validation.