Investigating the Relationship of Overall Health with a Focus on Cardiovascular Health, Serum Biomarkers and Vitamin D Levels in the European Chimpanz

In non-human hominids (great apes) and especially in chimpanzees, heart failure is a common cause of death with a high prevalence of idiopathic myocardial fibrosis in captive European chimpanzees, a disease which is also seen in humans with an unknown aetiopathogenesis. This idiopathic myocardial fibrosis is a chronic, progressive and degenerative heart disease with its severity linked to low Vitamin D levels similar to what is currently known in humans. This PhD will explore the overall health of European captive chimps with a special focus on cardiovascular health in correlation to seasonal serum Vitamin D levels and disease-associated serum biomarkers for early ante mortem detection of potential life-threatening cardiovascular disease. Hearts will be extensively phenotyped, macroscopically and histopathologically, and results matched with Vitamin D levels. The student will investigate and validate putative cardiac biomarkers, discovered by previous investigations by using antibody based ELISAs. The data will be analysed in relation to vitamin D status to explore any crossover in vitamin D status and cardiac biomarkers.

The student will also become part of the clinical zoo veterinarian team and learn via health checks, regular behaviour observations and clinical monitoring about the overall health and cardiovascular health of captive chimpanzees at Twycross Zoo. An additional part of the project is to try and identify the 'normal' reference interval (RI) of seasonal serum Vitamin D levels and serum biomarkers in healthy and not healthy chimps in their natural habitat in Africa by joining the team of Twycross Zoo vets and investigators supporting and examining sanctuary chimp populations. The student will have the opportunity to learn and develop a wide variety of skill sets including some clinical work, diagnostic pathology, analysing survey and clinical data as well as proteomic investigations and includes at least one field trip to Africa. They will use existing and new clinical research data partly established by the well renowned and successfully ongoing, collaborative Ape Heart Project in the UK. The project would suit someone with a background in bioscience, medicine or veterinary medicine. The student will join a vibrant, diverse and world class interdisciplinary research team, including cardiologists, zoo vets, biological and medical scientists, and pathologists, all studying aspects of heart disease and other Vitamin D related conditions.