PhD projects

Professor Lindsay Bearne

Professor Fiona Jones

Mr Iain Roy

Contact: lbearne@sgul.ac.uk

People with severe peripheral arterial disease (critical limb threatening ischaemia) require urgent treatment to unblock their leg arteries but, despite this, about a quarter die within one year. This PhD project will co design a new intervention that aims to improve self-management, health and quality of life in people with critical limb threatening ischaemia. This is a mixed-methods PhD involving stakeholder (public) engagement, evidence synthesis, qualitative and participatory research methodologies. It will offer the student bespoke training in all research methods alongside the opportunity to develop a full understanding of co-design and effectiveness of self-management approaches and the management of peripheral arterial disease.

Skill acquisition:

• evidence synthesis/systematic review methods
• stakeholder engagement (public involvement)
• qualitative research methods
• co-production and experienced based co-design
• preliminary intervention testing

Professor Tihana Bicanic

Dr Rachel Wake

Professor Elaine Bignell

Contact: tbicanic@sgul.ac.uk

Develop skills and tools for understanding antifungal AMR using a unique collection of patient isolates.

Skill acquisition:

Candida (fungal) microscopy, culture, susceptibility testing, DNA extraction and bioinformatic analyses. Gene editing using CRISPR/Cas9. Production of graphs, digital image analysis and statistical analysis using R software.

Prior educational requirements:

A relevant MSc/ MRes (eg in Microbiology/ antimicrobial resistance/ Mycology) is desirable but not essential.

Professor Charlotte Clark

Professor John Gulliver

Contact: chclark@sgul.ac.uk

Night-time transportation noise is a major concern for public health in terms of sleep disturbance, as awakenings, annoyance, and physiological responses to noise can lead to effects the next day on mood, and performance, as well as longer-term effects on cardiometabolic health (e.g., heart attacks, strokes, diabetes). This study will go beyond using measures of average transportation noise exposure for the entire night-time period by creating novel, event-based environmental night-time noise metrics, including noise levels by frequency (Hz), and linking them to large-scale UK longitudinal cohort studies. These metrics will be used to assess longitudinal associations on a range of health outcomes including cardiometabolic, sleep disturbance, cognition, and mental health. The project will have both national and international importance to the research community and will inform UK public health policy. The PhD student will be part of one of the leading groups internationally on noise and health research.

Skill acquisition:

• Physiological acoustics
• Statistical analysis of temporal and longitudinal data
• Noise exposure science
• Management of large data sets
• Statistical methods for dealing with missing data
• Environmental epidemiology
• UK environmental policy for public health
• Meta-analysis
• Presenting with impact

Prior educational requirements:

Applicants should normally have a minimum of an upper second-class honours degree (2:1) of a UK university or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard obtained after a course of study extending over not less than three years in a university (or educational institution of university rank), in psychology, epidemiology, geography, environmental science, public health, or an allied, quantitative subject.

Professor John Friedland

Dr Deborah Chong

Contact: jonfriedland@sgul.ac.uk

Tuberculosis (TB), caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) infection, is the most prevalent and lethal infectious diseases globally. The hallmark feature of pulmonary TB is granuloma formation associated with remodelling of extracellular matrix proteins. There is strong evidence showing that platelets secrete cytokines and growth factors in response to M.tb infection. Fibroblasts are key effectors cells that mediate tissue remodelling processes. Whether platelets or platelet-derived mediators affect tissue remodelling processes in fibroblasts to contribute to lung damage in TB is unknown. This PhD project will investigate the cellular interactions and regulation of fibroblast function induced by platelets and platelet-derived mediators that contribute to tissue remodelling during M.tb infection. This will be achieved through many different in vitro molecular immunological and cellular techniques including cell culture, ELISA, Western blot, qRT-PCR and confocal microscopy.

Skill acquisition:

The student will be trained in various aspects focused towards studying immunological and cellular responses. Specific techniques that the student will acquire include:

• Cell biology techniques including cell culture of primary human lung fibroblasts, platelet isolation from whole blood, functional assays such as cell proliferation or collagen deposition assays
• Biochemical techniques including Western blot, qRT-PCR and immunofluorescence
• Confocal microscopy
• Immunological techniques including ELISA/Luminex
• Microbiological techniques including culturing M.tb and how to work safely with a category 3 pathogen
• Gene editing techniques such as CRISPR-cas9
• Verbal and written communication skills to scientific and lay audiences

Dr Sally Hargreaves

Professor Kirsty Le Doare

Dr Agnes Ssali

Contact: s.hargreaves@sgul.ac.uk

The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a spotlight on high levels of vaccine hesitancy and structural barriers to vaccines experienced by migrant communities globally, with this group considered to have a range of unique risk factors for being under-immunised for many routine vaccines. Research to date has highlighted the benefits of working closely with these communities to design public health interventions to strengthen uptake of vaccination across the life-course. The overarching objective of this project is to generate new evidence on barriers, facilitators, and current policy and practice around the delivery of catch-up vaccination in adult and adolescent migrants across the life-course in low and middle-income settings. We will use this evidence to test a co-designed public health intervention to drive uptake of key vaccinations in Uganda and the UK.

Skill acquisition:

This is a mixed-methods PhD involving evidence synthesis/systematic review methods, semi-structured questionnaire survey tools; community-based participatory research study using co-production methodologies and qualitative research. This PhD will offer the student bespoke training in the co-design and delivery of complex public health interventions with migrant communities using co-design and participatory research methods, and qualitative interview approaches, training in systematic reviews methodology, survey design and delivery, alongside acquiring a full understanding of the fields of vaccination policy and practice and migrant health. Travel to Uganda is optional.

Dr Catrin Moore

Professor Jodi Lindsay

Contact: camoore@sgul.ac.uk

The burden of antimicrobial resistance is extremely high in sub-Saharan Africa, with treatment becoming increasingly complex. High background carriage rates of resistant bacteria in sub-Saharan Africa may be increasing the prevalence of disease with resistant bacteria. There are a decreasing number of effective antibiotics to treat infectious diseases due to resistance and the lack of access to antibiotics in many countries. To date most of our data on AMR and antibiotic use derives from hospitals and there is a lack of understanding what happens in the community both from human behaviour and from an understanding on the prevalence of AMR. This PhD project will begin to describe St George’s Studentship: 2024-25 project submission form 10 the patient pathway to understand the burden of AMR and the use of antibiotics in the community in Uganda. This project offers the successful candidate the opportunity to join two successful departments: 1) the AMR team in the Centre for Neonatal and Paediatric Infection, St George’s, University of London 2) the Institute of Infection and Immunity, St George's. It is linked to a Wellcome Trust funded project to examine uncomplicated urinary tract infections in two communities in Kampala, Uganda.

Skills acquisition:

Analytical skills; quantitative and qualitative encompassing epidemiological design, statistical analysis and interpretation based on local context. Laboratory skills to look at the different virulence factors produced by the community and hospital strains.

Prior educational requirements:

Epidemiology background and a knowledge of AMR

Professor Joan Morris

Dr Iain Miller Carey

Dr Alex Lewin

Contact: jmorris@sgul.ac.uk

Pregnant women often take medications. However, over 98% of drugs approved in 2000-2010 have insufficient pregnancy safety data as pregnant women are usually not included in clinical trials. Sufficient data can take decades to accumulate. The aim of this PhD is to take into account the accumulation of evidence over time and determine if predictions can be made about which medications are likely to accumulate sufficient data in the near future to warrant more detailed investigations. This is extremely important to attempt to shorten the time it takes for concerns about a medication to be raised. The techniques to be used are likely to include Bayesian signal detection methods and Cluster analysis techniques using R or STATA statistical software. The data analysed will be from the EUROmediCAT database containing information on medications taken in over 40,000 pregnancies subsequently diagnosed with a congenital anomaly from 15 countries in Europe from 1995-2021.

Skill acquisition:

Ability to analyse data sets in R and to write open-source R scripts. Skills in developing statistical models will be acquired. General knowledge about congenital anomalies and safety of medications in pregnancy will also be acquired.

Prior educational requirements:

The candidate needs a strong mathematical background, preferably with some statistical knowledge.

Professor Christopher Owen

Professor Alicja Rudnicka

Mr Iain Roy

Contact: cowen@sgul.ac.uk

Diabetes is increasing and early detection and treatment of complications is key to reducing the impact of the disease on individuals. This studentship will provide training and experience in examining and comparing the effectiveness of artificial intelligence (AI) vs. traditional risk prediction approaches for development of diabetes complications, including cardiovascular disease (including heart disease, stroke, and peripheral circulatory disease), using one of the largest and most ethnically diverse NHS Diabetic Eye Screening Programmes (DESP) from North East London (NEL), serving a population from the lower-end of the socioeconomic spectrum. The NEL DESP sees over 100,000 patients annually, and 90,000 have 5 years of follow-up data, 40,000 10 years. The studentship will allow the value of artificial intelligence (AI) based retinal image analysis approaches, over and above markers of systemic control gleaned from linked health record usage data, to be examined. Findings will provide an early warning system for complications associated with diabetes, which could be exploited within existing retinal imaging infrastructure. Examples of research questions include:

1. Can we accurately identify which patients progress to cardiovascular complications of diabetes?

2. What is the comparative performance of AI feature detection and end-to-end deep learning applied to retinal images, in predicting cardiovascular complications of diabetes?

3. Can prediction be improved by adding health data from electronic medical records, which provide markers of diabetic care and control?

Skill acquisition:

These questions will require extensive use of generalized linear models of longitudinal data and prediction modelling.

Prior educational requirements:

Strong quantitative background with a MSc in medical statistics, data analytics, or a closely related discipline

Professor Rajko Reljic

Professor Tim Bull

Dr Yanmin Hu

Contact: rreljic@sgul.ac.uk

Infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis occurs in progressive stages, with the end-result determined by the success or failure of the host immune response to counteract the multiple virulence strategies employed by this pathogen. Thus, clearance, partial control (latent infection) or active disease may result, but it is not clear why these differing outcomes can all occur in apparently immunocompetent individuals. In this study, we will address the role of MTB-secreted proteins in pathogenesis and host response to infection, in vitro and in vivo. Protective efficacy of the BCG vaccine in mice when supplemented with MTB-secreted proteins (BCG:Plus) will also be studied.

Skill acquisition:

The student will learn all the above-mentioned laboratory techniques and in addition, the highly specialised skills for working in containment level 3 laboratory and experimenting with animals (in a collaborating centre, University of Leicester). The student will also acquire extensive data analysis and interpretation skills, considering the diversity of methodological approaches employed, and readouts that will be generated. Other, important generic skills (scientific writing, project management, literature appraisal, scientific integrity, career prospects, safe working practices etc) will be acquired through university organised workshops and training programs, as well as practical laboratory training.

Dr Arjuna Singanayagam

Dr Evangelos Triantafyllou

Professor Tihana Bicanic

Contact: asingana@sgul.ac.uk

The mortality due to chronic liver disease is increasing contrary to many chronic conditions. Infections in patients with cirrhosis increase mortality fourfold and invasive fungal infections in critically ill cirrhosis patients has a 65% mortality. Cirrhosis-associated immune dysfunction and pathological microbial gut translocation are causative. In this translational immunology project, you will investigate antifungal immune responses of the innate and adaptive immune system of humans with advanced cirrhosis and using mouse models of chronic liver disease, whilst evaluating the human mycobiome using metagenomic approaches.

Skill acquisition:

Laboratory immunological in vitro techniques including immunophenotyping, functional assays and cell culture with flow cytometric analysis; statistics; DNA extraction and bio-informatic approaches.

Prior educational requirements:

Science-based MSc preferable and prior immunology experience desirable.

Dr Ferran Valderrama

Dr Efthymia Papaevangelou

Professor Iain Greenwood

Contact: fvalderr@sgul.ac.uk

This project will investigate the role of the sodium leak channel non-selective protein (NALCN) and its inhibition on disease progression, invasion and metastasis of cancers of glandular epithelial origin.

Skill acquisition:

• Tissue culture of mammalian cells
• Molecular biology methods (DNA isolation, bacterial transformation, cell transfection, PCR, CRISPR knockout)
• Cell-based in vitro assays including migration and invasion assays, and wound healing
• Biochemical methods (western blot, proteome profiler arrays)
• Immunocytochemistry
• Microscopy including Bright Field, Fluorescent, Live-cell time-lapse and Confocal
• Patch clamp electrophysiology

Prior educational requirements:

BSc in Biology, Biomedical Sciences, Clinical Pharmacology or similar. Knowledge in cell and cancer biology, and cancer therapeutics is desired.