LICAMM Advanced diffusion MRI for clinical cardiac microstructure imaging

Cardiac diffusion MRI is an emerging technology for assessing the health of the myocardium, and has shown promise in a range of clinical applications such as myocardial infarction, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and aortic stenosis. Current clinical diffusion MRI largely focuses on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), this is due to the effectiveness and robustness of the technique. However, DTI is limited in its specificity i.e. different diseases can present similar changes in DTI metrics. This motivates development of more advanced diffusion MRI techniques with greater specificity.

<p>In this PhD project, you will learn about cardiac diffusion MRI and work to develop and apply advanced in vivo diffusion MRI on a 3T clinical MRI scanner. The methods developed will be applied in both healthy volunteers and patients with relevant myocardial disease. Candidates are expected to have a background in medical physics, imaging or a related field, supervision and training will be given.</p> <h5>References</h5> <ul> <li>Lasič S, Yuldasheva N, Szczepankiewicz F, Nilsson M, Budde M, Dall’Armellina E, Schneider JE, Teh I, Lundell H. Stay on the Beat With Tensor-Valued Encoding: Time-Dependent Diffusion and Cell Size Estimation in ex vivo Heart. Frontiers in Physics. 2022;10. doi: 10.3389/fphy.2022.812115</li> <li>Teh I, Shelley D, Boyle JH, Zhou F, Poenar AM, Sharrack N, Foster RJ, Yuldasheva NY, Parker GJM, Dall'Armellina E, Plein S, Schneider JE, Szczepankiewicz F. Cardiac q-space trajectory imaging by motion-compensated tensor-valued diffusion encoding in human heart in vivo. Magnetic resonance in medicine : official journal of the Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine / Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. 2023. doi: 10.1002/mrm.29637</li> <li>Teh I, Moulin K, Ferreira PF, et al. Multi-centre Investigation of Cardiac Diffusion Tensor Imaging in Healthy Volunteers by SCMR Cardiac Diffusion Special Interest Group NETwork (SIGNET). Journal of cardiovascular magnetic resonance : official journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance. 2025:101948. doi: 10.1016/j.jocmr.2025.101948<br />  </li> </ul>

<p>Please note these are not standalone projects and applicants must apply to the PhD academy directly.</p> <p>Applications can be made at any time. You should complete an <a href="https://medicinehealth.leeds.ac.uk/faculty-graduate-school/doc/apply-2">online application form</a> and attach the following documentation to support your application. </p> <ul> <li>a full academic CV</li> <li>degree certificate and transcripts of marks (or marks so far if still studying)</li> <li>Evidence that you meet the programme’s minimum English language requirements (if applicable, see requirement below)</li> <li>Evidence of funding to support your studies</li> </ul> <p>To help us identify that you are applying for this project please ensure you provide the following information on your application form;</p> <ul> <li>Select PhD in Medicine, Health & Human Disease as your planned programme of study</li> <li>Give the full project title and name the supervisors listed in this advert</li> </ul> <p><em>As an international research-intensive university, we welcome students from all walks of life and from across the world. We foster an inclusive environment where all can flourish and prosper, and we are proud of our strong commitment to student education. Across all Faculties we are dedicated to diversifying our community and we welcome the unique contributions that individuals can bring, and particularly encourage applications from, but not limited to Black, Asian, people who belong to a minority ethnic community, people who identify as LGBT+ and people with disabilities. Applicants will always be selected based on merit and ability.</em></p>

Applicants to research degree programmes should normally have at least a first class or an upper second class British Bachelors Honours degree (or equivalent) in an appropriate discipline. The criteria for entry for some research degrees may be higher, for example, several faculties, also require a Masters degree.

If English is not your first language, you must provide evidence that you meet the University's minimum English language requirements. The minimum English language entry requirement for postgraduate research study in the School of Medicine for 2027/28 is an IELTS of 6.5 overall with at least 6.0 in each component (reading, writing, listening and speaking) or equivalent. The test must be dated within two years of the start date of the course in order to be valid.

<p>This project is open to applicants who have the funding to support their own studies or who have a sponsor who will cover these costs.</p>

<p>Please send enquiries to Dr. Irvin Teh (<a href="mailto:i.teh@leeds.ac.uk">i.teh@leeds.ac.uk</a>).</p> <p>For further information about the admissions process please contact the Faculty Admissions Team:<br /> e:<a href="mailto:hlspgradmissions@leeds.ac.uk">hlspgradmissions@leeds.ac.uk</a></p>