Multiple long-term conditions (MLTC) are a growing global challenge, associated with frailty, poorer quality of life, premature mortality and high healthcare utilisation. Yet research and clinical practice remain focused on single diseases. There is an urgent need to develop a clinical academic workforce equipped to address the complex biological, social and health-system drivers of MLTC. Our vision is to train a new generation of researchers in discovery science applied to three major challenges with a cross-cutting emphasis on health inequalities:
- Fundamental mechanisms of MLTC
- Combined mental and physical MLTC
- Prevention and management of MLTC
We are building on outstanding strengths across four Scottish universities with global partnerships and our successful Wellcome-funded Multimorbidity PhD Programme which trained 32 fellows across medicine, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy and allied health professions. Our new programme will provide interdisciplinary training in experimental medicine, big data analytics and qualitative approaches, enabling researchers to connect mechanistic insights with real-world complexity. We want to create the future international leaders in MLTC research and welcome applications from doctors, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, clinical psychologists, healthcare scientists and allied health professionals who want to address the global challenge that MLTC pose.
The Impact of multiple long-term conditions
About one-third of the world’s population experience multiple long-term conditions
in their lifetime
*Nguyen H et al., 2019
Discover what our current cohort thinks of the Multimorbidity PhD Programme, which has now been renewed as the Multiple Long-Term Conditions (MLTC) PhD Programme.
These videos feature students from our original Multimorbidity PhD Programme, which has now evolved into the Multiple Long-Term Conditions (MLTC) PhD Programme. Hear about their experiences of undertaking research in multimorbidity which reflect the collaborative research environment that continues in the Multiple Long-Term Conditions (MLTC) PhD programme.
Multimorbidity, delirium, and outcomes in hospitalised patients
Rose, is a registrar in Geriatrics and General medicine and joined the University of Edinburgh as part of our cohort of Multimorbidity PhD students. Her research area is ‘Multimorbidity, delirium, and outcomes in hospitalised patients: a big data project using routine clinical and national audit data’.
Collaborative practice on health and care outcomes in multimorbidity patients
Josie, is a Consultant in Public Health and joined the University of St Andrews as part of our cohort of Multimorbidity PhD students. Her research area is ‘The impact of interprofessional collaborative practice on health and care outcomes in patients with multimorbidity’.
Quantifying incremental costs and quality of life of multimorbidity trajectories
Neave, is a GP and joined us at The University of Glasgow as part of our cohort of Multimorbidity PhD students. Her PhD research area is ‘Quantifying the incremental costs and quality of life pathways of different trajectories of multimorbidity development’.
About the programme
This Programme will address the substantial challenges posed by multiple long-term conditions. Hosted in the Scottish societal context, where multiple long-term conditions (MLTC) is a significant health concern, but examining globally relevant problems, it will create a generation of innovative world-class researchers empowered to find ways to prevent MLTC, discover pathways tractable to novel intervention, and optimise management. We will achieve this through PhD projects designed to build synergistic, multidisciplinary collaborations across participating institutions, promoting new thinking on this complex topic.
This programme aims to recruit: doctors, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, clinical psychologists, healthcare scientists, and allied health professionals from a range of clinical/health professional backgrounds. These fellows will experience the mentorship/skills training and support that will enable them to become future research leaders and make transformative contributions to MLTC and its clinical management internationally. We will promote intellectual curiosity, scientific rigour, peer learning, research integrity, translation into practice, public engagement and the principles of equality and diversity while imparting cutting-edge analytical skills. Underpinned by the track-records and resources of the Universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, and St Andrews, we will offer exceptional opportunities for clinical research across the translational spectrum from examining aetiology and mechanisms, through data science and epidemiology, to applied clinical research in a unique collaborative training environment, promoting development of a critical mass of MLTC researchers.
This programme will offer projects in three broad areas, with one cross-cutting theme, which map to our partnerships research strengths and key issues outlined by The Academy of Medical Sciences:
THEME 1:
FUNDAMENTALS OF
MLTC
This theme focuses on elucidating the molecular and cellular mechanisms underpinning interactions between long-term conditions to generate foundational biological insights. The programme builds on epidemiological work describing patterns of MLTC to develop understanding the biological processes that are shared across conditions, those that are disease-specific but interacting, and when in the life course these mechanisms first become detectable or modifiable. Fellows will integrate biological data with longitudinal clinical phenotyping to identify disease-agnostic mechanisms that could inform prevention strategies, precision risk prediction, and future therapeutic development.
THEME 2:
COMBINED MENTAL & PHYSICAL MLTC
This theme explores the development, trajectories, inequalities, and lived contexts of combined mental and physical long-term conditions. People with severe mental illness have more than twice the prevalence of physical MLTC than people without, contributing to a substantial and avoidable health inequality. There are also complex bidirectional relationships between physical and mental health in common mental and neurodevelopmental disorders. Younger adults are particularly affected, with distinct patterns of disease accumulation and significant impact on quality of life and mortality. Fellows will investigate the biological, behavioural, social, and healthcare drivers of these trajectories to identify opportunities for earlier and more effective intervention.
THEME 3:
PREVENTION & MANAGEMENT OF MLTC
This theme focuses on preventing progression and improving the management of MLTC by addressing their clinical, social, cultural, political, and economic drivers. Fellows may use longitudinal datasets and AI-enabled modelling to predict disease trajectories and identify critical opportunities for intervention, or to understand how MLTC influence diagnosis and treatment of conditions like cancer or cardiovascular disease. They may investigate resilience and protective factors that enable some people to maintain function despite MLTC, develop innovative measures of patient capacity for self-management, and examine polypharmacy, including identifying people at greatest risk of adverse drug events or problematic medication burden.
CROSSCUTTING THEME:
INEQUALITY
This crosscutting theme focuses on inequalities and is addressed across the other three themes. Work in Scotland, using population data, has demonstrated that MLTC occur a decade earlier in deprived communities. Socioeconomic inequalities are a major factor in development of MLTC, and contribute to poorer outcomes. Understanding the mechanisms underpinning these associations and developing appropriate interventions is essential.
Entry Requirements
The PhDs for Healthcare Professionals are fixed term 3 year appointments offering training, mentoring and support to healthcare professionals undertaking a PhD on the topic of multiple long-term conditions (MLTC). The posts will be based in the University of Glasgow, University of Dundee, University of Edinburgh, or University of St Andrews. Our aim is to develop the next generation of leaders in MLTC, who are both excellent in their core disciplines and skilled in working widely across disciplines and sectors. The core degree is a cohort‐based 3‐year PhD.
Eligible healthcare professions include:
- Medicine
- Nursing
- Allied Health Professions (e.g. Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Podiatry)
- Pharmacy
- Dentistry
- Clinical Psychology
- Healthcare Scientists
Medical applicants are welcome from ALL medical and surgical specialties (including General Practice). They must be doctors in training (holding a National Training Number and be eligible for higher clinical training where relevant for their specialty) or be General Practitioners who have completed their training (post-CCT) and are within the first 4 years post-CCT (full-time equivalent i.e. accounting for part-time working). Dentists either in a training programme or within 4 years of completing their training programme are eligible to apply. Doctors and dentists who are still in training will need to gain permission for time out of training from their Postgraduate Dean. Clinical work during the PhD will be limited to half to one day per week.
Applicants from NMAHPS and other clinical disciplines (e.g. pharmacy or healthcare science professionals) must have completed all of their professional training and have 2-year full time (or equivalent) clinical experience after full registration with their professional body, this is required at the point of application. Healthcare science professionals will need to have completed the relevant NHS Practitioner Training Programme and/or NHS Scientist Training Programme, or equivalent, and be currently clinically active.
Please note that candidates can apply to this PhD Programme on a maximum of 3 occasions, either in consecutive or separate years.
For all applicants, we will be looking for candidates with evidence of research activity before application (for example, as an undergraduate; by completion of a relevant Master’s degree or other post-graduate qualification; or by participating in research including writing papers) or other relevant activity (for example, working in policy or management). All applicants must be registered with their appropriate discipline specific professional body within the UK (e.g. General Medical Council, Nursing & Midwifery Council Nursing, Health and Care Professions Council) and be licensed to practice in the UK.
Applicants would benefit from holding an intercalated BSc or research Master's degree or an equivalent postgraduate research related qualification in an area of clinical relevance.
Funding
Grant funding is available to cover 3-years home rate tuition fees, to support training, travel and research activities and to provide a full-time salary.
We expect the clinical salary will be commensurate with your existing NHS salary, but our funders have set the salary ceiling based on the applicants core clinical discipline and, whilst we will aim to match this, we are constrained within these limits, and for those outside of medical training grades salary matching is not guaranteed.
Note that some of the fellowships are funded by Wellcome Trust and some are funded by participating universities; the exact funding available may vary somewhat, but the programme will negotiate this.
Recruitment Dates
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Project & Vacancy Advertising - TBC
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Webinar - TBC
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Job Applications Closes - TBC
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Candidate Shortlisting Meeting - TBC
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Interviews - TBC
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Pre-programme run-in period start - 1st February 2027
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Programme Starts - 1st August 2027
The Multiple Long-Term Conditions (MLTC) PhD Programme for Health Professionals is the first in the UK to focus on MLTC, bringing together the clinical disciplines required to address this complex problem, and spanning multiple discovery science methods.
This programme aims to:
- Help tackle rising levels of MLTC
- Achieve internationally excellent research
- Catalyse development of urgently needed MLTC academic health professionals
