伦敦大学学院招收生物化学博士

About the Project

Project ID: 2228cd1258 (You will need this ID for your application)

Research Theme: Healthcare Technologies

UCL Lead department: Computer Science and Biochemical Engineering

Lead Supervisor: Prof. Delmiro Fernandez-Reyes and Dr. Jack Jeffries

Closing date: 13:00 UK time on 08 January 2024

The UCL EPSRC DTP (Doctoral Training Partnership) is recruiting 70 outstanding students to undertake fully-funded four-year PhD (including EngD) studentships at UCL.

These studentships are open to both Home and International fee status students.

Project Summary:

There is an evolving need for the development and validation of cost-effective scalable vaccine delivery platforms with the aim to support safe and effective immunisations for both human and veterinary health at global scale. In this context, configurable and scalable platforms can have significant importance when dealing with current and emerging zoonotic communicable diseases. In this interdisciplinary multi-Faculty PhD programme, we will apply an integrative vaccine development approach to study the scalability of phage vaccine delivery systems and its relation with their safety and immunogenicity.

The approach first integrates knowledge from host-pathogen interactions, desired host immunity and safety profile to select and design relevant antigens and neo-antigens. This will be followed by focusing on the study of the manufacturing scalability of our phage platform with the aim to intensify the manufacturing process through optimisation of fermentation conditions, exploration of purification options, and for their concentration into a range of potential storage buffers and assess for their stability and retention of bacterial infectivity. Intensification will further explore the scalability of the process from the current starting point in shake flasks, to a 200mL, then 1L bioreactor, which would typically intensify the titre achieved by over 20-fold.

Manufacturing studies will produce the starting materials to assess their ability to produce an immune response when formulated with well-established adjuvants using an in vivo murine model. Data generated will be used to initiate the preclinical regulatory process of the platform with the relevant independent agency. The student will acquire training in integrative antigen design, biochemical engineering, synthetic biology, adjuvant and vaccine formulation as well as how to deploy in vivo vaccination regimens to study humoral or mucosal immunity.

This interdisciplinary project will be based at UCL Department of Biochemical Engineering and Department of Computer Science and involves co-supervision expertise from School of Pharmacy, Institute for Global Health and, Institute for Child Health. The ideal applicant should possess foundations in laboratory techniques and a keen interest in vaccine development and scalable manufacturing processes. While the project benefits from an interdisciplinary supervisory team, the core of the PhD work will be grounded in hands-on, wet-lab biochemical engineering research. The candidate should therefore demonstrate proficiency in experimental design, data analysis, and practical laboratory skills pertinent to biochemical engineering. Previous experience in phage biology, vaccine development, or related fields is advantageous but not mandatory. The student should be prepared for a challenging yet rewarding journey, bridging the gap between fundamental biochemical engineering principles and their application in the innovative field of phage vaccine-delivery platforms.

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