3 year project: Epidemiology of depression in diabetes: identifying risk factors, mechanisms, course and consequences.
Institute of Psychiatry – Department of Psychological Medicine

Start: 01/01/2011 Ends: 31/12/2013
First supervisor: Dr Khalida Ismail

Applications are invited to join the South London Diabetes Cohort study (SOUL-D) which is a prospective study examining the effects of depression in 2000 newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes. Depression is a common problem in diabetes and is associated with worse biomedical outcomes and increased mortality. Little is understood as to the risk factors for depression, what is its natural history and how biological, social and psychological factors interact to increase morbidity and mortality. You will be joining an established and friendly team in the Diabetes Research Group. You will be expected to develop additional hypotheses and appropriate methodologies to test them and contribute substantively towards data collection. This post suits a student who wishes a career in public health, medical informatics or clinical epidemiology.

Department of Psychological Medicine
The Department of Psychological Medicine focuses on the interface between psychiatry and medicine, psychiatry and occupation, psychiatry and the military, and psychiatry in different settings. The Head of the Department is Professor Simon Wessely, Chair of Psychological Medicine, who is also Vice Dean for Academic Psychiatry.

Entry requirements
Students must have a first class or high upper second honors degree and has or expected to have a Masters in epidemiology or a related discipline, including public health, mental health research.

Award type
The funding is from the National Institute of Health Research. The stipend is £16,500 (2010/11). Home/EU tuition fees will be met. There will be some funding for attendance to courses and conferences. The studentship will only fully fund applications who are eligible for home/EU fees. Overseas students would have to pay the difference (approximately £10,000).

Further information
For further information or enquiries please contact Dr Khalida Ismail khalida.2.ismail@kcl.ac.uk.

To Apply
Apply online at https://myapplication.kcl.ac.uk/
On the online application form, please select “Psychological Medicine Division MPhil/PhD (Full-time)” from the programme list, and select January 2011 as the programme start date. Quote Ref “K111” in the Research Proposal box. Please note, you do not have to submit a Research Proposal. You should use that space on the online form to describe your research interests and ideas while also using the Personal Statement and Supporting Information section to give the short-listing panel a clear idea of why you are the best person for this post.

Please include details of 2 referees, including their email addresses. Your referees will be contacted prior to your interview.

Closing date 15th October