king's college medical research

Doctoral Training Partnership in Biomedical Sciences

Our doctoral training partnership.

Located in the heart of London, King’s College London and our associated NHS partner hospitals provide a vibrant and globally recognised biomedical research community. Our integrated and multi-disciplinary approach to medical research provides a wealth of cutting edge training opportunities in fundamental discovery science, translational research and experimental medicine.

Our students undertake projects from across all our Health Faculties in areas as diverse as: structural biology, drug development, in vivo imaging, population genetics and clinical trials. The cohort-focused philosophy of our programme ensures that our graduates experience the diversity of our science, learn how to collaborate and think creatively, and leave King’s equipped to tackle key biomedical challenges of a rapidly changing world.

Students recruited since September 2016. Up to 30 fully-funded places annually

Bespoke training courses flexibly tailored to student interests and needs, king’s research is world-leading or internationally excellent, active biomedical academics at king’s college london, relevant research.

Human Health is a dominant and unifying theme of research, training and education at King’s. We have a distinguished history in biomedicine and continue to be at the centre of cutting-edge discovery and applied research. Innovation and cross-discipline collaboration sit at the heart of our postgraduate research programmes. Our International reputation as a centre of outstanding scholarship continues to grow.

Training Community

Our students drive the growth of the DTP. The enthusiasm of our students to deliver project engagement activities, lead social events, share research, and contribute to the wider programme with the support of our academic and managerial team is a real strength of the the DTP. We champion a student-led approach ensuring that student feedback informs the evaluation and development of activities.

Strategic Collaborations

The MRC DTP benefits from a wealth of external and internal partners. We collaborate with the KCL Health Faculties, NIHR Biomedical Research Centres, the Wellcome Trust, the EPSRC Centre for Medical Imaging, as well as numerous industrial and commercial partners. These collaborations make us uniquely placed to offer students a diverse selection of training and networking opportunities.

Our funders

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High-Field 7T MRI in a drug-resistant paediatric epilepsy cohort: image comparison and radiological outcomes

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Background and Objectives: Epileptogenic lesions in focal epilepsy can be subtle or undetected on conventional brain MRI. Ultra-high field (7T) MRI offers higher spatial resolution, contrast and signal-to-noise ratio compared to conventional imaging systems and has shown promise in the pre-surgical evaluation of adult focal epilepsy. However, the utility of ultra-high field MRI in paediatric focal epilepsy, where malformations of cortical development are more common, is unclear. This study compared 7T to conventional 3T MRI in children with epilepsy by comparing: (i) scan tolerability; (ii) radiological image quality; (iii) lesion yield. Materials and Methods: Children with drug-resistant focal epilepsy and healthy controls were recruited prospectively and imaged at both 3T and 7T. Safety and tolerability during scanning was assessed via a questionnaire. Image quality was evaluated by an expert paediatric neuroradiologist and estimated quantitatively by comparing cortical thickness between field strengths. To assess lesion detection yield of 7T MRI, a multi-disciplinary team jointly reviewed patients' images. Results: 41 patients (8-17 years, mean=12.6 years, 22 male) and 22 healthy controls (8-17 years, mean=11.7 years, 15 male) were recruited. All children completed the scan, with no significant adverse events. Higher discomfort due to dizziness was reported at 7T (p=0.02), with side-effects more frequently noted in younger children (p=0.02). However, both field strengths were generally well-tolerated and side-effects were transient. 7T images had increased inhomogeneity and artefacts compared to those obtained at 3T. Cortical thickness measurements were significantly thinner at 7T (p<0.001). 8/26 (31%) patients had new lesions identified at 7T which were not identified at 3T, influencing the surgical management in 4/26 (15%). Discussion: 7T MRI in children with epilepsy is feasible, well-tolerated and is associated with a 31% improvement in lesion detection rates.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Funding Statement

This research was supported by GOSHCC Sparks Grant V4419, King's Health Partners, in part by the Medical Research Council (UK) (grants MR/ K006355/1 and MR/LO11530/1) and Medical Research Council Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London (MR/N026063/1), and by core funding from the Wellcome EPSRC Centre for Medical Engineering at King's College London [WT203148/Z/16/Z]. J.O.M, K.V, and C.C were funded by a Sir Henry Dale Fellowship jointly by the Wellcome Trust and the Royal Society (206675/Z/17/Z). C.C was also funded by a grant from GOSHCC (VC1421). T.A. was also supported by an MRC Transition Support Award [MR/V036874/1] and Senior Clinical Fellowship [MR/Y009665/1]. M.E was funded by Action Medical Research (GN2835) and the British Paediatric Neurology Association. R.J.P was funded by a Surgeon-Scientist grant by GOSCHCC (VS0221). This research was funded in whole, or in part, by the Wellcome Trust [WT203148/Z/16/Z and 206675/Z/17/Z] and by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre based at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London and/or the NIHR Clinical Research Facility. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.

Author Declarations

I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.

The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:

Ethical approval was granted by the UK Health Research Authority and Health and Care Research Wales (ethics ref. 18/LO/1766).

I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals.

I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).

I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable.

Data Availability

The clinical and neuroimaging data used in the current work are available from the senior author (J.O.M.) on formal request indicating name and affiliation of the researcher as well as a brief description of the intended use for the data. All requests will undergo King's College London-regulated procedure, thus requiring submission of a Material Transfer Agreement. Full preprocessing steps and the code to run the HCP preprocessing pipeline can be found at https://github.com/Washington-University/HCPpipelines. Please also see https://github.com/Washington-University/workbench for the source code for Connectome Workbench. Other code excerpts, information regarding the analysis, or intermediary results can be made available upon request to [email protected].

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Life of a Medic

Sharing my journey through medical school + dropping nuggets of advice along the way…

What’s it Really Like To Study Medicine at King’s College London?

Welcome to the 7th week of the Virtual Medicine Open Day : giving you an insight into each of the UK medical schools and the opportunity to ask current medical students about the realities of studying there!

This post is written by Sara, a first year medical student at King’s College London .

I’ve just completed my first year at KCL and it’s been incredible. I’ll be sharing the experience so far including the teaching, what a week looks like and tips for applying.

• An Overview of Teaching Methods
• Typical Timetable of a 1st year Medical Student at King’s

The Non-Medical Stuff

3 top tips for applying to king’s, an overview of how we are taught.

So first year/stage one is heavily focused on the basics of biomedical sciences/medicine. Some of the modules covered include cell biology, biochemistry, genetics, immunology, respiratory physiology, cardiac physiology and anatomy. As KCL uses an integrated approach, we do get clinical teaching during first year but do not attend any placements. 

• Lectures: the main method of teaching. All the lectures are recorded and put online onto lecture capture shortly after the lecture which is really useful if you need to re-watch a lecture. 
• Tutorials: these consist of small group teaching (about ten students). You’re given a worksheet to complete before and discuss the answers and reasons as a group with a lecturer present. 
• Practical sessions: these depend on the module. So for anatomy, we have cadaveric dissections from one session to three sessions per week. With the genetics module, its more lab based where we learn basic techniques such as polymerase chain reaction and western blotting. 
• Clinical skills: we learn the basics at this stage such as taking a blood pressure reading, oxygen therapy, urine dipsticks, prescribing and drug administration. 

A Typical Timetable of a 1st Year Medic

The timetable does vary significantly week to week, but here’s an example:

King’s has five campuses: Strand, Guy’s, St Thomas’, Waterloo and one in Denmark Hill. During first year, you’ll mainly be at Guy’s Campus which is located right next to London Bridge station. Being located in central London there is always lots to do. The transport links are great so you can get around easily. There’s so much to explore nearby. Tate Modern and Sky Garden are both about a fifteen minute walk away. Borough market is located right next to the campus and there are plenty of food options there and loads of other places nearby. It is pretty easy to find food for any diet type which I know can sometimes be an issue. Overall there are a whole bunch of tourist-like things to do with your new uni friends.  

There are a whole range of societies that you can join such as those focused on fundraising, sports societies, cultural, political, volunteering and lots more. These are great for meeting people that aren’t on your course. I personally really enjoy the medical societies as they can be really informative and you get to learn more about specialities early on. 

Pros of Studying at King’s

• Cadaveric dissections are the highlight of first year. These are done in small groups so you are able to learn a lot. You can ask your anatomy demonstrator additional questions if you didn’t understand part of the lecture. 

• Location means there is always something new and exciting to do. I’ve not yet had a dull moment when it comes to socialising and finding new restaurants/cafés.

• The lecturers are approachable and there is a great support system. For example, you are given a tutor for the year who you meet up with three times a year and discuss any problems you may be having or just for a general catch up. 

Cons of Studying at King’s

• There is no first year clinical exposure which is a negative if you’re wanting to get into the clinic as soon as possible. There are other ways to get clinical exposure. For example they run the PEEP scheme (shadowing a psychiatrist) and the emergency medicine society run a program where medical students can observe shifts with the London Ambulance service. Nevertheless, I prefer having a year of learning to ensure I know enough and gain some confidence before getting onto placement.     

• Not everyone will find tutorials useful but they are compulsory to attend. This is because the worksheet can sometimes be pretty simple and due to time constraints it can be difficult to attend tutorials. Having said that, I know some people find discussing the topic in a group helpful so it depends on the individual.

I suppose these can be useful for any med school but the application process for MMI unis in general is quite similar. 

1. Make sure you learn a bit about KCL just in case it comes up during an interview. Research the campuses, the teaching methods and about the location. 

2. King’s use the MMI method of interviewing. In terms of preparation, I’d suggest brainstorming some answers to typical medical school questions and research recent hot topics in the field. Also, it is important to not allow how one station went affect the next.

3. With the personal statement , I mentioned GP, hospital and pharmacy work experience/volunteering. I know that they focus on what you have learnt from the experiences rather than how many you can list though. 

Thank you Sara for such an interesting insight into King’s! Find out more about her on Instagram:

Your Turn To Ask Any Questions!

Thank you for submitting your questions, they’ve now been answered by a current student – click below to read the answers!

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Clinical Lab Science and Medical Technology

Program Overview

The Bachelor of Science in Clinical Laboratory Science /Medical Technology degree program is designed to train and qualify students as Clinical Laboratory Scientists/Medical Technologists for hospital or clinical laboratories. This program meets the Clinical Laboratory Science requirements of the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS).

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• Hospital laboratories
• Private medical laboratories
• Military hospital laboratories
• Research laboratories
• Doctors' offices
• Blood banks
• Health services organizations
• Computer industry
• Health and allied health professions
• Pharmaceutical companies - research and development
• Forensic sciences
• Scientific equipment and supplies - manufacturing and sales
• State and federal governmental science agencies
• M.S. and Ph.D. (biology, biochemistry and chemistry)
• M.S. (clinical laboratory scientist/medical technician)
• M.S. (laboratory administration)
• Health profession programs

Program Details

Upon completion of three years of college-based study, the student sends transcripts to NAACLS for evaluation. This is done prior to his/her acceptance for internship at an accredited hospital. King’s College is presently affiliated with several hospitals where a 12 month internship may be taken. Clinical experiences may be obtained at Geisinger School of Medical Laboratory Science, Danville, PA; Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital, Sayre, PA; WellSpan York Hospital, York, PA; Pennsylvania College of Health Sciences, Lancaster, PA; Reading Hospital, Reading, PA; University of Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia, PA; UPMC Susquehanna, Williamsport, PA; Sentara RMH School of Medical Science, Harrisonburg, VA; or any hospital having a School of Medical Technology approved by the American Society of Clinical Pathologists (ASCP). This 3 + 1 program leads to a B.S. degree in Clinical Laboratory Science/Medical Technology and prepares the student for the National Certification examinations. It should be noted that any student wishing to transfer into the King’s Clinical Laboratory Science/Medical Technology program from another academic institution is required to complete the sophomore and junior level science courses at King’s College. The Clinical Laboratory Science/Medical Technology program requires more than 120 credits for eligibility for the degree, which is awarded at the completion of the professional phase in August of each year. Students who complete a baccalaureate degree in biology, chemistry, or general science and who have the appropriate prerequisites may also apply to any school of Medical Technology approved by the American Society of Clinical Pathologists for study in preparation for the certification examination.

Additional Info

Compatible minors.

• Biochemistry
• Molecular Biology
• Forensic Studies
• Neuroscience

Special Features

• 12-month hospital-based clinical rotations in NAACLS-accredited hospitals
• New Mulligan Physical Sciences building with state-of-the-art teaching and research laboratories and equipment
• Parente Life Sciences Building
• Undergraduate research
• Academic and career advisement programs
• Peer tutoring programs
• Work-study opportunities
• Guest speaker programs
• Internships
• Study Abroad

Student Organizations

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We welcome all potential students and their families to visit our beautiful campus and get a taste of the King’s College experience. Feel free to schedule a personal visit or mark your calendar for one of our upcoming admission events.

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Related majors.

Still looking for the perfect fit to your interests and goals? Here are some similar programs to explore:

General Science

Physician Assistant

King's College London

Job id: 094369 . Salary: £43,205 - £50,585 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance .

Posted: 22 August 2024 . Closing date: 12 September 2024 .

Business unit: IoPPN . Department: Neuroimaging .

Contact details: Peter Hawkins . [email protected]

Location: Denmark Hill Campus . Category: Research .

Back to job search

The department of Neuroimaging within the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King's College London is an internationally renowned centre focused on advancing our understanding of the human brain and its function using cutting-edge imaging technologies. The department is dedicated to exploring the mechanisms of neurological and psychiatric disorders across the lifespan, and improving understanding of how we can effectively treat these disorders. It employs a multidisciplinary approach, combining expertise in imaging techniques, computational neuroscience, basic and clinical research.

About the role

Applications are invited to lead a project investigating the brain mechanisms involved in the drug action of a novel treatment for schizophrenia using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

The post-holder will be responsible for the day-to-day running of a clinical trial examining the effects of a novel drug treatment using an experimental model in heathy volunteers, using established and novel imaging methods and blood markers. Data will be collected in a multidisciplinary research environment and the post-holder will be required to assist and co-ordinate other researchers, clinicians, research nurses, administrators and pharmacy, and liaise with our commercial funders.

Duties will include participant recruitment, organisation of study days, data collection, processing and analysis of imaging data using both existing and novel methods, and production of research reports and publications. We understand that early-career candidates may require additional training in some elements of the role, which will be provided.

This is a full time (35 Hours per week), and you will be offered a fixed term contract for 18 months.

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

• PhD in Neuroimaging or related discipline
• Previous experience in neuropharmacology research
• Experience of conducting neuroimaging studies in human participants
• Knowledge of Good Clinical Practice (GCP) in clinical trials and knowledge of Research Governance Frameworks.
• Knowledge and prior experience of functional neuroimaging analysis methods with ASL and fMRI (task and resting state) data
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to work independently as well as within a team
• Good organisational and time management skills, including ability to prioritise workload and work to deadlines.

Desirable criteria

• Coding skills and experience in one or more imaging analysis environments (e.g. Matlab, Python, R)
• Experience in the use of biomarkers (blood, neuroimaging, digital) to study mechanisms of brain function in psychiatry
• Previous experience of running a CTIMP in a clinical trials unit or research facility
• Previous experience and knowledge of research methods and study design in clinical trials.
• Experience with novel neuroimaging methods assessing brain metabolism

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the next page after you click “Apply Now”. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

Please note that this is a PhD level role but candidates who have submitted their thesis and are awaiting award of their PhDs will be considered. In these circumstances the appointment will be made at Grade 5, spine point 30 with the title of Research Assistant. Upon confirmation of the award of the PhD, the job title will become Research Associate and the salary will increase to Grade 6.

Further information

We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.

We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King's.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘How we Recruit’ pages.

We are able to offer sponsorship for candidates who do not currently possess the right to work in the UK.

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