Details
- Close date
- Friday, 1 May 2020
- Academic background
- Sciences, Health Sciences
- Host campus
- Wellington
- Qualifications
- PhD, Master's, Honours
- Department
- Paediatrics and Child Health (Wellington)
- Supervisors
- Dr Rebecca Dyson, Dr Max Berry
Overview
7% of New Zealand's babies are born prematurely. As these children grow up even those who were thought to be healthy at the time of first discharge from hospital face an increased risk of cardiovascular disease in adulthood.
Adrenergic (sympathetic) innervation of blood vessels mediates vasoconstriction, starting in fetal life and developing in complexity throughout postnatal life. It is unknown whether this maturation is perturbed by preterm birth, but early studies suggest that age-dependent interactions between peripheral adrenergic nerves and target organs during development may be a determinant of vessel reactivity and blood pressure in the adult. This project will utilise our established guinea pig model of preterm birth and involve analysis of physiological recordings of central and peripheral cardiovascular function to assess sympathetic input at the level of the heart and vasculature, respectively. You will then use an array of laboratory techniques (including ELISA, immunohistochemistry/ immunofluorescence, PCR) to investigate the mechanisms underpinning any dysfunction (altered mediator levels, altered receptor expression).