Research projects

Applications are open for the research projects listed below. Additional projects will be added to this page as these become available.

Project title: Decoding the immunometabolic signals responsible for causing inflammatory bowel disease – towards novel treatment paradigms

Lead Supervisor: Professor Nicholas Powell, Chair in Gastroenterology

Deadline for applications: 23.59 (GMT) 06 January 2025

Project abstract: Inflammatory bowel disease is an immune-mediated inflammatory disease affecting 1% of the UK population, and millions of patients across the globe. It is characterised by disabling symptoms and severe complications, such as cancer. Inappropriate immune responses are at the heart of IBD and new insights into what drives these exaggerated immune responses are urgently needed. We know that the composition of the billions of bacteria that live in our intestines are disordered in IBD patients. This project seeks to identify what molecules and metabolites produced by these bacteria are responsible for subverting immune cell activity.
   
The backbone of this PhD studentship is an established clinical study of carefully characterised IBD patients we are leading in collaboration with Astra Zeneca. 
   
Year 1: Profiling metabolites in biofluids of hundreds of patients, using state of the art platforms
Year 2: Defining the functional role of implicated metabolites on key cells of interest, and defining which receptors they engage
Year 3: Defining the pathogenic role of implicated metabolites in IBD disease models and human biopsy culture experiments
   
This project offers a unique opportunity for a highly motivated PhD to become an expert in multiple cutting-edge techniques and big data analyses. Our collaboration with Astra Zeneca offers exciting opportunities to accelerate discovery science to clinical implementation, offering a unique “molecule to clinic” experience.