Via www.jobs.ac.uk. This PhD Studentship entitled "Investigating mouse models of goitre and thyroid cancer" is based within the School of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, at the University of Birmingham. Differentiated thyroid carcinomas are the commonest endocrine cancers and their incidence is rising. Benign goitres, characterised by thyroid hyperplasia, are very common with prevalence rates of 15-50%. Thyroid tumourigenesis is initiated by oncogenic activation resulting in hyperplasia and subsequent neoplasia. We have reported increased expression of the related oncogenes, pituitary tumor transforming gene (PTTG) and its binding factor (PBF) in thyroid tumours. Importantly PTTG and PBF repress the function of the sodium iodide symporter (NIS) and this has critical implications for the treatment of thyroid tumours with radioactive iodine. This project will be undertaken in the Centre for Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism (CEDAM) where students will receive structured training in a variety of generic and transferable skills. The student will take part in a timetable of short courses in core and specialised techniques during their first year and opportunities will be provided to work for a period of time (12 weeks) with 1-2 other groups during the course of his/her PhD. The proposed project will provide experience in a wide range of molecular and cellular biology techniques which are well established within our laboratory. The project will be supervised by Dr Kristien Boelaert & Dr Chris McCabe. The studentship covers stipend and fees for four years and will commence in September 2009. Please apply with a copy of your CV and covering letter detailing 2 academic referees to Dr Kristien Boelaert at: [email protected].

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