Emergence of form and function during early heart development
Not stated
- Funding
- Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
- Application deadline
- 8 December 2026
About the project
About the Project Group Leader: Dr Richard Tyser ( Tyser Group ) Keywords: Heart Development, Physiology Research Summary The heart is the first organ to form and function during embryogenesis, essential in providing the developing embryo with sufficient oxygen and nutrients. Congenital heart defects are the most common type of birth defect affecting almost 1 in 100 babies born in the UK. Research in the Tyser Group explores how the mammalian heart begins to form and function during embryonic development. They use a combination of imaging and molecular based approaches to characterise cardiac progenitor cell populations, in both the human and mouse. Using this insight, they examine the mechanisms which regulate how cardiac progenitors differentiate to give rise to the functional beating heart. They are particularly focused on understanding how the onset of contraction influences heart morphology and cardiomyocyte differentiation. As well as addressing questions of fundamental biological significance, the group’s research aims to augment therapeutic approaches to treat disease: by establishing the underlying causes of disease as well as providing a blueprint for regenerative strategies on how best to treat them. We encourage prospective PhD students to reach out directly to Dr Tyser, rt593@cam.ac.uk to discuss potential projects and supervision. To Apply: We encourage prospective PhD students to reach out directly to Dr Herzog, ch2151@cam.ac.uk to discuss potential projects and supervision. Applicants must secure the support of a Supervisor within a laboratory before submitting an application . Please contact the project Supervisor(s) to discuss potential supervision, proposed research project and funding options, which should then be used to write your formal application. Applications will be submitted to the ' PhD in Stem Cell Biology ' and full course details can be found at https://www.postgraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/directory/blscpdscp