I am a research assistant at University of Cambridge working on psychosis and Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS). PWS is a neurodevelopmental genetic disorder that might be caused by different defects on chromosome 15. One of these defaults is associated with a very high rate of psychosis (>60%) in addition to the typical symptoms of the disease. This means that a genetic event on chromosome 15 predisposes to psychosis , at an incredibly high rate. Thus, PWS can be used as a window on the biology of psychosis, and serve as a model to study it.
I spent these last months doing a very meticulous work, reviewing all the scientific literature available on this topic, with the aim of designing a strong research protocol. I have been accepted at the university of Cambridge to start a PhD based on this protocol, but after months of hard work, I have just learned that I did not get any funding to start the PhD.
At the university of Cambridge, we have some of the best specialists in their fields, guaranteeing the highest standards in research. The only thing we need is money covering tuition fees (£22.878) as well as stipend (£40.000) over three years. At the individual scale, this amount is huge. However, this amount could be very easily reached with a small contribution from many people.
I don't try to be rich, it is why I choose to work in academics, and I will not earn money in doing this PhD, I'm just asking help to pay tuition fees, and a stipend for maintenance. I am choosing to dedicate my intellect, energy, skills and time to help people fighting mental illness.
I you accept to help me, I will be committing to work very hard, and do my best to help to cure psychosis and mental illness.