Project Title: “Novel methods for the inhibition of infection and inflammation in
Cystic Fibrosis Lung Disease ”
Supervisors: Professor Cliff Taggart, Dr Chris Scott and Dr Marie Migaud
Deadline: 5pm on Friday 25 June 2010 .
The Centre for Infection and Immunity (CII) at Queen’s University Belfast seeks applicants for a three-year PhD studentship in Cystic Fibrosis research to commence in September/October. The studentship will be administered by the Centre for
Infection and Immunity at Queen’s University Belfast, which specializes in internationally-recognized, inter-disciplinary research in translational infectious/inflammatory disease.
We invite talented and motivated students, or graduates to apply for our PhD programme. Applicants should be recent graduates or final year undergraduates who have or expect to get a first or upper second-class honours degree or equivalent, and have laboratory or research experience in the area of molecular biology, biochemistry, organic/synthetic chemistry, molecular biology or pharmacy. EU candidates are eligible.The successful applicant will commence their PhD in
September 2010.
Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is one of the most common genetically inherited illnesses in the
UK and worldwide. Although a number of organs are involved in the disease progress the vast majority of individuals with the disease will die as a result of respiratory failure due to a combination of overwhelming infection and lung tissue destruction as a result of excessive inflammation. Currently, antibiotics are used to treat the infection in the CF lung and have been shown to successfully reduce infection and improve lung function. However, despite the reduction in infection, the number of bacteria still resident in the CF lung remains very high due to the inability of antibiotics to penetrate into the thick secretions (mucus and sputum) present in the CF lung.
Another class of drugs called an anti-inflammatory are also in development for the treatment of CF lung disease with promising results so far. We propose to develop alternative strategies (using a combination of organic chemistry and molecular biology techniques) to design novel pro-drugs for the treatment of CF lung disease.
These drugs will have greater lung distribution properties as well as combined antibacterial and anti-inflammatory characteristics.
The application consists of two different processes:
(1)Candidates should apply via the Queen’s on-line portal: http://pg.apply.qub.ac.uk/home/
(2)Candidates must also submit a copy of your Curriculum Vitae, including a synopsis of research experience, to Nancy Bowman ( n.bowman@qub.ac.uk
) (phone +44-(0)28 9097
2042)