PhD Studentship: Linking Metabolism and Metal Resistance in Pathogenic Bacteria

Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is an effective pathogen of humans and animals and is well known as the leading cause of often-fatal infections in newborn infants. Little is known about how GBS resists the immune system and colonises to cause invasive disease. This PhD will develop a new understanding of how streptococci resist intoxication by metals, a major...

Primary supervisor - Professor Diane Saunders Wheat blast and rusts are fungal diseases that severely damage cereal production worldwide. During infection, these fungi secrete proteins into wheat plants to reprogramme host plant circuitry, supporting their own growth and development. A subset of effectors, termed avirulence factors (Avr), can be recognised...

Primary Supervisor: Dr Rianne Lord Bacterial infections are the second-leading cause of deaths globally, and whilst antibiotics have undoubtedly saved millions of lives, their extensive use, coupled with pathogen evolution has resulted in drastic increases in prevalence of antibiotic-resistant strains. Amongst these, Gram-negative pathogens pose the most...

Primary Supervisor: Dr Rianne Lord   Bacterial infections are the second-leading cause of deaths globally, and whilst antibiotics have undoubtedly saved millions of lives, their extensive use, coupled with pathogen evolution has resulted in drastic increases in prevalence of antibiotic-resistant strains. Amongst these, Gram-negative pathogens pose the...

Primary supervisor - Professor Diane Saunders  Wheat blast and rusts are fungal diseases that severely damage cereal production worldwide. During infection, these fungi secrete proteins into wheat plants to reprogramme host plant circuitry, supporting their own growth and development. A subset of effectors, termed avirulence factors (Avr), can be...

Primary Supervisor: Dr. Rebecca Taylor Ageing is associated with increased rates of disease, including neurodegenerative conditions. Prion-like proteins (PrLPs) play major roles in age-associated neurodegeneration, but their physiological functions are often poorly understood. Defining these functions would increase our understanding of the behaviour and...

Primary Supervisor: Dr. Rebecca Taylor   Ageing is associated with increased rates of disease, including neurodegenerative conditions. Prion-like proteins (PrLPs) play major roles in age-associated neurodegeneration, but their physiological functions are often poorly understood. Defining these functions would increase our understanding of the behaviour...

Primary supervisor - Dr Dmitry Ghilarov BackgroundThe acute problem of antimicrobial resistance incentivises us to develop innovative approaches to antibiotic discovery & production. Natural products that form the basis of our current medical arsenal are often difficult to synthesize, purify, or engineer. In recent years bioinformatically predicted peptide...

Primary supervisor - Dr Dmitry Ghilarov  Background The acute problem of antimicrobial resistance incentivises us to develop innovative approaches to antibiotic discovery & production. Natural products that form the basis of our current medical arsenal are often difficult to synthesize, purify, or engineer. In recent years bioinformatically predicted...

Primary supervisor - Dr Andrew Gates As well as carbon dioxide (CO2), other important climate-active gases are known to drive global warming. Importantly, nitrous oxide (N2O), is the third most abundant greenhouse gas with 300-times greater global warming power than CO2 and it also contributes to the destruction of the ozone layer. Production of N2O is a...

Primary supervisor - Dr Andrew Gates  As well as carbon dioxide (CO2), other important climate-active gases are known to drive global warming. Importantly, nitrous oxide (N2O), is the third most abundant greenhouse gas with 300-times greater global warming power than CO2 and it also contributes to the destruction of the ozone layer. Production of N2O is a...

Primary supervisor - Dr Myriam Charpentier Nitrogen (N) acquisition is fundamental for plant growth. However, N is poorly available in soils, leading to extensive and costly chemical fertiliser applications. It is estimated that 50-70% of nitrogen-derived fertilizer provided to the soil is lost, giving rise to soil and water pollution as well as global...

Primary supervisor - Dr Myriam Charpentier  Nitrogen (N) acquisition is fundamental for plant growth. However, N is poorly available in soils, leading to extensive and costly chemical fertiliser applications. It is estimated that 50-70% of nitrogen-derived fertilizer provided to the soil is lost, giving rise to soil and water pollution as well as global...

Primary supervisor - Dr Stephanie SchüllerColorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common and second most fatal cancer globally. Most cases of CRC are not hereditary but influenced by lifestyle factors and changes in the gut microbiome. Importantly, 5-10% of CRCs have been linked to E. coli strains producing the metabolite colibactin which causes DNA...

The PhD project will be supervised by Prof. Michael Hornberger (dementia neuroscientist, University of East Anglia). Please contact the supervisor at for further information on the project. We have an exciting PhD studentship to work on how spatial navigation changes impact driving behaviour in older people and dementia. The project builds upon our prior...

The PhD project will be supervised by Prof. Michael Hornberger (dementia neuroscientist, University of East Anglia). Please contact the supervisor at m.hornberger@uea.ac.uk for further information on the project.  We have an exciting PhD studentship to work on how spatial navigation changes impact driving behaviour in older people and dementia. The...

Primary supervisor - Dr Fred Warren The infant gut is a complex, constantly adapting ecosystem which shows distinct shifts as a consequence of introducing solid foods, which can have lifelong health impacts. An important nutrient in weaning foods is starch, a key dietary component in the adult diet. The genus Bifidobacterium has several adaptations making it...

Primary supervisor - Dr Fred Warren  The infant gut is a complex, constantly adapting ecosystem which shows distinct shifts as a consequence of introducing solid foods, which can have lifelong health impacts. An important nutrient in weaning foods is starch, a key dietary component in the adult diet. The genus Bifidobacterium has several adaptations...

Primary Supervisor: Dr James Smith Cardiomyocytes are the muscle cells of the heart, responsible for the production of contraction forces. During development, cardiomyocytes withdraw from the cell-cycle and switch from proliferative, growth to non-proliferative, hypertrophic growth. It is becoming clear that the extracellular matrix molecules play a key role...

Primary supervisor - Professor Martin Warren This PhD opportunity is ideal for graduates in biochemistry or biomedical science with a keen interest in protein science and its application in developing new diagnostic tests and assays. Recently, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) issued comprehensive guidelines on diagnosing and...