PhD Studentship: Transforming Disease Monitoring in the Era of Home Diagnostics

Primary Supervisor - Professor Ian Lake

Project Overview 

Gastrointestinal (GI) infections remain a major public health challenge in the United Kingdom and worldwide. Robust monitoring is essential for detecting outbreaks, tackling trends and informing timely interventions. Traditionally, this has relied on laboratory testing following referral of samples by general practitioners and hospital clinicians. For every single case diagnosed and reported to national surveillance in this way, there are nearly 150 community cases occurring under the public health radar.  

A major shift is underway. The rapid growth of at-home diagnostic kits by-passes the bottleneck of conventional face-to-face appointments by enabling individuals to test for infections outside conventional healthcare services. These technologies are generating new, potentially valuable data streams but their role in public health monitoring remains largely unexplored. 

This PhD offers a rare opportunity to study this transformation as it unfolds, and to explore the hidden burden of GI infections. You will investigate whether data from home diagnostics can enhance monitoring systems, expose the submerged portion of the disease iceberg, and reshape how infectious diseases are monitored in the future. 

Aims and Methods 

This interdisciplinary project sits at the intersection of public health, microbiology and social science addressing the question: 

Can home diagnostic testing meaningfully improve monitoring of gastrointestinal infections? 

The project will be tailored to your interests, likely including: 

Technology and market analysis: evaluating available home diagnostic kits, including pathogens detected and technologies used. 

Understanding users and behaviours: conducting social science research (e.g. surveys or interviews) to understand who uses these tests and how this influences the data produced. 

Public health integration: analysing whether and how these data could support existing monitoring. including identifying biases and data gaps. 

The project will deliver a forward-looking framework to support the integration of home diagnostic data into public health monitoring. 

Training and Development 

You will join a collaborative and interdisciplinary research environment, working alongside experts in public health, microbiology and social science. You will gain skills in: 

Advanced evidence synthesis 

Quantitative analysis of large health datasets 

Social science methods 

Translating data into actionable public health insights 

These highly transferable skills are in strong demand across academic, government and industry. 

Entry Requirements 

We seek a motivated and curious individual with an interest in public health and data-driven research. 

Essential: 

• A first or upper second-class degree (or equivalent) in a relevant subject 

Desirable (not required): 

• Interest or background in public health, microbiology or social science 

Why apply? 

This is project offers the opportunity to work on a fast-evolving policy-relevant challenge with real world impact. You will help define how emerging health technologies shape the future of disease monitoring in the UK and worldwide. 

Start date

1 October 2026

Additional Funding Information

This 3-year PhD project is fully funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and open to UK applicants only. The successful candidate will receive home tuition fees, an annual tax-free maintenance stipend and £1,000 per annum to support research training.

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