Optimising Healthy Ageing in Trans and Non-Binary Adults
Supervisors: Professor Dunx Shrewsbury, Dr Nina Lockwood and Dr Elle Whitcroft
Application deadline: Monday 26 October 2026
Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)
About the Project
Applications are invited for a 3.5-year full-time NIHR ARC KSS funded PhD studentship at Brighton and Sussex Medical School.
Project details: Trans and non-binary people face serious, well-documented health inequalities. They are twice as likely to experience long-term physical and mental health conditions, yet remain consistently underserved by healthcare systems. As people age, these inequalities compound. The healthcare needs of older trans and non-binary adults are almost entirely absent from research. This is a knowledge-gap that has real consequences for people’s lives.
We have funding to address this. The NIHR Applied Research Collaboration for Kent, Surrey and Sussex (ARC KSS) have supported a doctoral award dedicated to understanding and improving the health of trans and gender diverse adults in primary and community care settings. We are now looking for the right person to take this work forward.
We would particularly welcome applications from people with relevant community or lived experience, not as a tick-box, but because this research will be stronger, more meaningful, and more impactful if led by someone who understands this community from the inside. Academic background matters, but so does the knowledge that comes from having navigated these systems yourself, or from supporting others who have.
The UK’s ageing population is growing rapidly, with those aged 65 and over projected to represent 27% of the population by 2072, up from 19% in 2022. Ageing brings increased risk of long-term conditions and multimorbidity, and these risks fall disproportionately on marginalised communities.
For trans and non-binary people, barriers to healthcare are significant and well-evidenced. These include discrimination and cis-normative bias within services, exclusion from appropriate screening programmes, and in some cases, outright refusal of care. Research suggests these barriers lead to ‘missingness’ (a pattern where people disengage from healthcare systems) with downstream consequences for the detection and management of conditions such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and diabetes.
Sussex is a distinctive region for this work. It has the highest concentration of trans and non-binary residents in England and Wales, 5% in Brighton & Hove, 1% across Sussex, compared to a national average of 0.5%. The region is also home to two pioneering services: the NHS Sussex Trans, Non-Binary and Intersex (TNBI) Locally Commissioned Service, which funds general practices to provide targeted health checks and gender-affirming care; and the Sussex Gender Service, a community co-designed, NHS England-commissioned pilot providing holistic specialist care. Both services offer a rare opportunity to evaluate what good practice looks like and what difference it makes.
What the PhD will focus on
This project is intentionally broad in scope. It has been designed that way because we want the successful candidate to shape it. Your own experience, knowledge, and interests should drive the direction of the work. What we are looking for is a project that:
- Generates evidence about healthcare access and health outcomes for older trans and non-binary adults
- Involves meaningful partnership with trans and non-binary communities
- Produces findings that can directly improve services and practice
- Aligns with NIHR ARC KSS priorities around health equity, healthy ageing, and integrated neighbourhood-based care
Within these parameters, the shape of the project is yours to develop in collaboration with your supervisors and community partners. Illustrative components could include:
- Analysis of primary care datasets to examine patterns of healthcare access and associations with management of long-term conditions
- Qualitative and participatory research with older trans and non-binary people about their experiences of ageing and healthcare
- Evaluation of existing regional services (the TNBI LCS, the Sussex Gender Service) including their impact on health outcomes and care experiences
- Co-produced, creative, or arts-based methods to capture and communicate lived experience across the life course
- Development of practical tools or recommendations to improve inclusive care in primary and community settings
Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE)
Working collaboratively with patients and public groups will be central to this project. We have established partnerships with community organisations and groups in the region, including with The Clare Project and Switchboard. You will build on these relationships to involve trans and non-binary people meaningfully at every stage in the project: in setting priorities, designing the study, interpreting findings, and sharing what you learn. We are committed to supporting you to do this well, with dedicated resources.
Research Environment
The studentship is hosted within the NIHR ARC KSS Primary and Community Healthcare Research Theme, based at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex. The theme is led jointly by Prof Carrie Llewellyn and Prof Dunx Shrewsbury and addresses four interconnected challenges:
- integrated neighbourhood-first care
- sustainable and greener primary care
- healthy ageing for trans and non-binary adults and women
- building research capacity across KSS
You will join a research environment with strong NHS partnerships, established relationships with VCSE organisations, and direct connections to community and clinical innovation in the region. You will also become part of the NIHR Academy Member community, with access to national career development infrastructure.
Funding Notes
This is a 3.5-year NIHR ARC KSS-funded PhD studentship, starting on 11 January 2026. Funding will cover tuition fees for UK students (including a £21,805 per annum stipend (UKRI rate 2026, with annual uplift). This is a directly funded PhD for UK applicants only.
How to apply: Applicants must apply through the University’s application Portal (StudentView) where they can submit a CV and complete the application form. The deadline for applications is Monday, 26 October 2026. Interviews will be held on Monday, 16 November. Informal enquiries are welcome and should be submitted to PrimaryCareARC@bsms.ac.uk.