PhD Studentship: Investigating the Role of Parasite Apical Complex Ultrastructure in Host Cell Invasion

3 Year, full-time PhD studentship

Eligibility: Home UK/EU and International applicants

Bursary p.a: Bursary equivalent to UKRI national minimum stipend plus fees (current 2022/23 bursary rate is £17,668)

University fees and bench fees: University fees and bench fees will be met by the University for the 3 years of the funded Studentship. Visa and associated costs are not funded. International applicants can visit https://www.brookes.ac.uk/students/isat/ for further information.

Interviews: Provisionally 13, 14 March 2023

Start date:  September 2023

Director of Studies: Prof. Sue Vaughan (Oxford Brookes University)

Other Supervisors: Prof. Fiona Tomley, Dr Virginia Hernandez (Royal Vet College).

Requirements:

Applicants should have a first or upper second-class honours degree from a Higher Education Institution in the UK or acceptable equivalent qualification. Non-UK Applicants must have a valid IELTS Academic test certificate (or equivalent) with an overall minimum score of 7.0 and no score below 6.0 issued in the last 2 years by an approved test centre. 

There is an additional requirement to undertake up to 6 hours undergraduate teaching/week during semesters and to participate in a teaching skills course without further remuneration.

Project Description:

Eukaryotic Apicomplexan parasites cause a number of important Human and Animal diseases such as Malaria, Toxoplasmosis and Coccidiosis. These parasites survive in the mammalian host by invading cells and survive within a specialized vacuole called a parasitophorous vacuole. We used advanced electron microscopy techniques such as cellular electron tomography and serial block face scanning electron microscopy (SBF-SEM) to investigate the ultrastructural organisation of parasites within this vacuole where we discovered a pore-like connection between the parasite and host that could be important for parasite survival (Burrell et al, 2022, PLOS Pathogens). This is a joint collaboration with Prof. Fiona Tomley and Dr. Virginia Hernandez at The Royal Veterinary College, London, UK. The discovery of a pore connecting the parasite to the host during invasion is exciting as it might provide a mechanism for how parasites secrete proteins into host cells.

In this project, the student will use advanced light and electron microscopy to understand the timing of appearance of the pore and its role in parasite invasion in the mammalian host. The student will be hosted within our large and friendly parasitology grouping at Oxford Brookes University with other PhD students, post-docs and staff researchers, which is located within our Bioimaging centre. We will provide extensive training in bioimaging techniques allowing the student to work independently on a range of microscopes

Contact:  Prof. Sue Vaughan svaughan@brookes.ac.uk if you would like to discuss this further.

Advertised competitively alongside our current PhD studentship advertisements for Biological and Medical Sciences.

How to apply: Applicants should visit the webpage Investigating the role of parasite apical complex ultrastructure in host cell invasion for instructions on how to submit an online application.

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