Project title: Unravelling the Mechanism Behind Neurovascular Communication

Supervisor:

• Principal supervisor: Associate Professor Luis Alarcon-Martinez
• Co-supervisor: Dr Anna Wang

Email: luis.alarconmartinez@unimelb.edu.au

Suitable for: PhD

Scholarship:

• A full scholarship will be provided. A stipend of $39,500 (indexed yearly) per year for 3 years, with a potential extension of another 6 months.
• Paid leave equivalent to the Melbourne Research Scholarship (University of Melbourne) and follows the University’s terms and conditions.
• Depending on funding, the lab aims for the student to attend one international and one national meeting per year.

Project details:

Neuronal function depends on precise communication with blood vessels to obtain oxygen and nutrients to produce energy. Although this is a concept generally utilised in neuroscience, how neurons and vessels communicate is a vital question that remains unsolved.

This PhD project will investigate, using novel in vivo and ex vivo techniques, whether neurons regulate the function of the recently discovered interpericyte tunnelling nanotubes (IPTNTs), which are tubular structures that connect distal blood vessels to adjust blood delivery.

The project will focus on establishing new two-photon imaging techniques in retinal explants and living animals to interrogate whether neurons regulate IPTNT function to:

• Identify the type of neurons and their spatial organisation surrounding IPTNT-connected capillaries
• Establish whether neuronal-derived products are involved in the IPTNT-dependent vascular regulation.