Immunogenomics of Arthritic Joint Disease
Blood & Bone: Immunogenomics in Arthritic Synovia
Published on the 08 October 2026 by UNSW Scientia PhD Project
This project is part of the UNSW Scientia PhD Scholarship Scheme
Successful applicants will receive an annual stipend and a one-off Global Mobility Grant to conduct international engagement activities.
Our top PhD candidate will travel between the Garvan Institute, and Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, in Cambridge.
You will apply genomic technologies and analytical pipelines uniquely available at Broad, to the fastest growing Arthritis Tissue Biobank in Australia, within Garvan’s Masle-Farquhar Lab.
Arthritis affects 3.7 million Australians, causing ongoing pain, disability, isolation, comorbidities and premature deaths. Treatments are trial-and-error; only ~20% of rheumatoid or psoriatic arthritis patients reach remission. Osteoarthritis has no approved disease-modifying drug.
You will analyse the world's first single-cell, long-read sequencing dataset integrating transcriptome, clonotypes, isoforms and acquired mutations – directly within diseased arthritic joints. And access other unique datasets, including large-scale single-cell genetics analyses of hundreds of patients.
Your insights into disease mechanisms, treatment resistance, and novel drug targets will directly feed our established pipeline for producing and pre-clinically testing novel arthritis therapies.
Applications must include CV, transcripts, and thoughtful, detailed and original cover letter.
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- Residency: Domestic applicants only.
- Degree program: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).
You must meet the minimum requirements below to apply:
- An appropriate Bachelor degree with first or upper second class Honours from UNSW: OR
- A completed Master by Research, with a substantial research component and demonstrated capacity for timely completion of a high-quality research thesis; OR
- a qualification from another tertiary institution at a level considered equivalent by the Faculty Higher Degree Committee (HDC)
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Eligible applicants must contact the Primary Supervisor, Etienne Masle-Farquhar - e.masle-farquhar@garvan.org.au. If he agrees to supervise you, you will be invited to submit a formal application to UNSW.
Your email should include:
- CV
- Official academic transcripts
- A brief introduction about you and why you are qualified for this project.
- What interests you about this project and the supervisor(s) expertise.
Research project overview
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Scholarship value
$39,991 per annum (2027 rate) stipend for 3.5 years
$25,000 Global Mobility Grant (one-off) -
Supervisory team
Dr Etienne Masle-Farquhar (UNSW, Garvan Institute, Primary Supervisor)
Dr Aziz Al'Khafaji (Broad Institute, MIT, Co-Supervisor)
Dr Ghamdan Al-Eryani (Broad Institute, MIT, Co-Supervisor)
Dr Andre Reis & Dr Clara Young (UNSW, Garvan Institute, Co-Supervisor)
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Global research partner
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Candidate residency
Domestic
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Degree program
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
UNSW School | Research area
Faculty of Medicine & Health | School of Clinical Medicine
Impact focus area
Pillar 8: Enable healthy lives
Learn more
Primary Supervisor
Do you have questions?
The UNSW Graduate Research School manages all postgraduate research applications and scholarships. Get in touch with our team to discuss your research interests and the next steps.