Independent science and PhD research

I want to change the conversation around appropriate diagnosis of thyroid hormone disease. Mounting pollution and stress has multiple effects on how thyroid hormones and their actions are produced and expressed. 

My goal is to add to the already well-documented effects of pollutants on thyroid disease which can affect reproduction, mood, energy, digestion, sleep and increase systemic inflammation. Chronic and under-diagnosed thyroid disease has vast implications to each generation ahead of us affecting not just fertility but increasingly susceptibility to disease.

More importantly, I want to assess the effects of different treatments on how hormones are expressed and connect in the brain and other tissues and test the hypothesis that there may be different treatments that improve thyroid function, which may be more effective when pollution and stress are increased.

The diagnosis of thyroid disease is currently done through the use of the thyroid stimulating hormone or TSH blood test. When pollution and stressors are high, both circulating hormones comprised in the feed back loops and areas that bind hormones to their target tissues are altered, decreasing function while still giving the appearance of normal. I analysed these relationships on a much simpler level during my MSc, which I completed in 2019, and now wish to further this analysis by studying function more specifically and through a nuanced perspective. My hope is that by challenging the notion that the blood test is accurate, we can subsequently have a positive impact on the lives of millions of people.  

In my experience, many people consult with their doctors with specific clinical presentations of thyroid disease, yet after running blood tests that appear normal, are left with thinking, “it’s all in their head.” I want to challenge this engrained belief, assessing whether the test is really the most accurate one in contexts where pollution and stress are elevated.

I will be looking to start my PhD in April of 2021 at the University of Reading in the U.K. and I will be hoping to share my experiments and progress with you all, and most importantly, offer honest and impartial science. 

It’s a challenging task ahead and because I am independent with no financial interests or payments from organisations (I work as a free-lance coach and researcher), the fees for such an undertaking are not small. 

The laboratory fees are £32,000 alone, with the PhD fees approximately £18,000. I, of course, will pay for the teaching fees, but am asking for support to fund the scientific experiments necessary for such research. I will be completing it part time, as I will still need to work to bring in income during this time. I am not being funded by anyone to complete this research and all money raised will go towards laboratory fees.

I’m looking forward to sharing my experiments and findings with you over the next six years and am truly grateful for any help that I can get. I’ll be setting up an area on my website where all donors will have access to any and all updates, which I plan on sharing regularly.