Design of targeted intravesical therapies for treating recurrent urinary tract infections (QIU20DART)

The National Institute for Health Research in 2016 reported that UTIs are among the most common types of
infections within excess of 92 million people affected worldwide. UTIs are a significant cause of mortality, especially
amongst the elderly population, with UTI related symptoms accounting for between 1-3% of all primary care
consultations and being the main reason for 13.7% of community antibiotic prescriptions. The treatment costs of
UTIs place a significant burden on the NHS. The current antibiotic treatments are mostly systemic in nature which
exposes the whole body to the drug. This has contributed to the recently reported 6% of drug-resistance in UTI
cases. This 4-year DART MRC iCASE PhD studentship will aim to develop and evaluate a new nanoparticle-based
localised treatment that can directly administer into the bladder, the target organ. This PhD studentship is seeking,
a motivated individual who is passionate about innovation in medical technology that can improve patients’ quality of
life. Applicants should have 2.1 or 1st class bachelor degree in pharmacy, pharmaceutical sciences, biomedical
sciences, biomedical engineering or relevant disciplines.

The student will benefit from the iCASE nature of the project and will be given a 3-month internship within the
industrial partner company, UroPharma, a rapidly growing medical device company specialised in the development
of novel intravesical therapeutics. The student will be based at the School of Pharmacy which is one of top
pharmacy schools in the UK for research output and will enjoy the state-of-the-art learning and research training
offered by UEA which is a world-leading, research driven institute which also holds a Gold award for the Teaching
Excellence Framework (TEF).

This project is funded by the MRC Doctoral Antimicrobial Research Training Programme (DART). Shortlisted applicants can expect to be interviewed on 13th or 14th August 2020. Formal invitations to interview will be circulated by no later than 10th August 2020.

The MRC DART Management Board approves entry to the programme and studentship offers. Offer letters will be sent to successful candidates as soon as possible after the interview date, usually within 10 working days.

Students will benefit from collaborative training with the Norwich Research Park Doctoral Training Programme, as well as a breadth of training possibilities across UEA and Norwich Research Park partners.

Through collaboration with a non-academic partner, iCASE students will spend 3-18 months on a placement with the partner company. Through this placement, students gain access to training, facilities and expertise not available in an academic setting alone, significantly enhancing future employability.

Applicants must meet the minimum eligibility requirements as specified by UKRI-MRC, as well as the entry requirements for UEA postgraduate research degrees. For further information and to apply visit: https://www.uea.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/research-degrees/phds-and-studentships/dart-mrc-icase

For more information on the supervisor for this project, please go here: https://people.uea.ac.uk/sheng_qi

This is a PhD programme.

The start date of the project is 1 October 2020.

The mode of study is full-time. The studentship length is 3.5 years.

Entry requirements

Applicants for DART MRC iCASE studentships must have obtained (or be about to obtain), a First or Upper Second-class UK Honours degree, or qualifications gained outside the UK that are considered to be equivalent, in an appropriate area relevant to their proposed field of research. Applicants with a Lower Second-class degree will be considered if they also have a Master’s degree, or have significant relevant additional non-academic experience. Studentships awarded based on predicted grades will be conditional upon final results.

If English is not their first language, applicants must also meet the University’s English language requirements. Details of English Language requirements for candidates for research degrees can be found on the UEA website.