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Dr P Beard
Prof P Digard
No more applications being accepted
Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
About the Project
This PhD project will investigate the mechanisms the poxvirus Vaccinia virus uses to replicate in a host cell. Our laboratory has carried out a high throughput screen of potential host factors that influence Vaccinia virus (VV) replication, identifying novel cellular proteins which act as susceptibility or resistance factors to the virus. This PhD project will investigate the mechanism of function of high priority candidates.
Background to Vaccinia virus
Vaccinia virus was most famously used in the 19th and 20th centuries as a very successful vaccine against smallpox (which is caused by the closely related poxvirus Variola virus), leading to the worldwide eradication of this disease in 1980. VV has also been used as a model for poxviral disease and a tool for investigating cellular biological mechanisms such as actin regulation and antiviral immune responses. VV is well suited to investigating cell biology mechanisms because there are well characterised methods for generating viral mutants and excellent animal models of poxviral disease.
VV is a large virus, encoding over 200 proteins from its large double-stranded DNA genome which enables it to undertake a particularly complicated cytoplasmic life cycle. One of the most elaborate areas of poxvirus biology is their numerous and varied immune avoidance strategies.
Project summary
This project will investigate relatively poorly characterised susceptibility or resistance factors identified in the high throughput screen which are believed to influence the innate immune system. The student will carry out mechanistic studies to identify how the proteins affect viral replication and immune signalling.
Anticipated project outcomes:
The knowledge gained from this PhD project will add to our knowledge of poxvirus pathogenesis and elucidate basic cellular mechanisms. It may be applied to the improvement of poxvirus-based vaccine vectors.
Background to Vaccinia virus
Vaccinia virus was most famously used in the 19th and 20th centuries as a very successful vaccine against smallpox (which is caused by the closely related poxvirus Variola virus), leading to the worldwide eradication of this disease in 1980. VV has also been used as a model for poxviral disease and a tool for investigating cellular biological mechanisms such as actin regulation and antiviral immune responses. VV is well suited to investigating cell biology mechanisms because there are well characterised methods for generating viral mutants and excellent animal models of poxviral disease.
VV is a large virus, encoding over 200 proteins from its large double-stranded DNA genome which enables it to undertake a particularly complicated cytoplasmic life cycle. One of the most elaborate areas of poxvirus biology is their numerous and varied immune avoidance strategies.
Project summary
This project will investigate relatively poorly characterised susceptibility or resistance factors identified in the high throughput screen which are believed to influence the innate immune system. The student will carry out mechanistic studies to identify how the proteins affect viral replication and immune signalling.
Anticipated project outcomes:
The knowledge gained from this PhD project will add to our knowledge of poxvirus pathogenesis and elucidate basic cellular mechanisms. It may be applied to the improvement of poxvirus-based vaccine vectors.
Funding Notes
All candidates should have or expect to have a minimum of an appropriate upper 2nd class degree.
For further Scholarship information and application procedure please see
http://www.roslin.ed.ac.uk/postgraduate/studentships/investigations-into-vaccinia-virus-pathogenesis/
For further Scholarship information and application procedure please see
http://www.roslin.ed.ac.uk/postgraduate/studentships/investigations-into-vaccinia-virus-pathogenesis/
Project supervisors
Dr P Beard's profile is coming soon
View other supervisors at University of EdinburghCareer overview
Professor Paul Digard obtained an M.A. in Natural Science from St John's College, University of Cambridge, from 1982 to 1985, followed by a Ph.D. in Virology from the Division of Virology, Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, from 1985 to 1989. His academic career includes positions as a Fellow at Harvard Medical School from 1989 to 1993, a Research Associate in the Division of Virology at the University of Cambridge from 1993 to 1995, and a Royal Society University Research Fellow from 1995 to 2003. He served as a Senior Research Associate funded by the Wellcome Trust from 2003 to 2004, and held various academic roles at the University of Cambridge, including University Lecturer from 2004 to 2005 and Senior Lecturer from 2005 to 2011. Additionally, he was an Honorary Researcher at Cambridge University Hospitals Trust from 2006 to 2011. Currently, he holds the position of Chair of Virology at The University of Edinburgh.
Research interests
Professor Digard's research focuses on the replication and pathogenesis of influenza viruses. Their laboratory investigates the molecular and cellular biology of influenza virus replication, aiming to understand the basis of virus pathogenesis and host range, as well as to contribute to translational studies on antiviral drug development and virus control measures. Recent research has concentrated on three main areas: identifying cellular pathways and viral elements involved in genome trafficking and virus assembly, examining the function of the viral RNA synthesis machinery and its role in setting host range, and identifying novel virus polypeptides that affect virus pathogenicity.
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