Sex differences in food preferences in humans at the University of Edinburgh

Supervisors: Albert Tenesa and Pau Navarro

Closing Date:  5th January 2022

Women and men show substantial differences in longevity, disease risk and other complex traits. These differences are suspected to be in part due to genetics but also due to environmental differences. We [1] have recently shown that there is wide-spread but small differences in women and men for a wide range of traits. These differences might extend to food preferences, which in turn could affect future health, but also consumer habits, for instance preference for meat or vegetables.

It has been shown that genetics play a substantial role in food preferences and how these preferences affect caloric intake [2] and that the genotype of one person affects the food intake of another [3].

Furthermore, in addition to the direct effect of our genotype on food (e.g. meat vs vegetables) preferences we suspect that the genotype of our peers (friends, parents, partners, etc) affect what do we eat.

In this project, we will test these hypotheses:

1. that sex affects food preferences

1. that there are genotype by sex interactions on food preferences.

1. that our partner genotype has an effect on our food preferences.

1. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-021-00912-0?proof=tr

1. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.28.454120v1.full.pdf

1. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-020-00991-9

Funding information and application procedures

We would encourage applicants to list up to three projects of interest (ranked 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice) from those listed with a closing date of 5th January 2022 at https://www.ed.ac.uk/roslin/work-study/opportunities/studentships 

This opportunity is open to UK and international students and provides funding to cover stipend, tuition fees and consumable/travel costs.  Applications including a statement of interest and full CV with names and addresses (including email addresses) of two academic referees, should be emailed to [email protected].

When applying for the studentship please state clearly the project title/s and the supervisor/s in your covering letter.

A webinar will be held on Tuesday 14th December at 13.00hrs (UK time) to assist you in the application process and tell you a little more about studying for a PhD with us.  It will also give you an opportunity to ask any questions you may have.  If interested in joining us please send your name and email address to [email protected]by Friday 10th December and we will send you a link to the on line meeting

ALL APPLICATION PROCEDURES MUST BE COMPLETED BY THE CLOSING DATE 5th JANUARY 2022