Running on Empty: Metabolic Ageing in Blood Stem Cells (RUSHWORTH_U27DTP)

Every blood cell in your body, from oxygen-carrying red cells to virus-fighting white cells, begins life in a rare population of blood stem cells that must stay active for an entire lifetime. As we age, these stem cells lose their edge, contributing to the immune decline and blood disorders associated with growing older. This project tackles a fundamental question in ageing biology: why do blood stem cells run low on metabolic fuel as we age, and can we intervene? You will focus on glutamine, a nutrient we have shown is essential for healthy blood stem cell function, to uncover why its supply falters with age and whether restoring it can reverse stem-cell decline.

Our previous work revealed that an ageing bone marrow environment blunts immune responses in older individuals. Exciting new data now show that blood stem cells themselves also develop intrinsic metabolic defects. This project will be among the first to pin down these cell-intrinsic changes and test directly whether they compromise stem-cell function and blood output, opening a new route to understanding, and potentially reversing, age-related decline in the blood system.

You will receive comprehensive, hands-on training in a broad and highly sought-after skillset: primary cell isolation, in-vivo and in-vitro modelling, metabolomics, stable isotope tracing, flow cytometry (FACS), LC-MS-based metabolite analysis, qPCR, western blotting, ELISA and metabolic flux analysis. This multidisciplinary training will set you up for a competitive career in academic, clinical or industry research.
You will be based in the Rushworth Lab at Norwich Medical School, UEA, a dynamic, well-funded research group with a strong record of high-impact publications and PhD training success, working alongside expert collaborators at the Earlham Institute and across the Norwich Research Park, one of Europe’s leading centres for life-science research.