Lighting up biotheraputics (SACHDEVAA2_U21SF) at University of East Anglia on FindAPhD.com

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Dr A Sachdeva, Dr M J Marin No more applications being accepted Self-Funded PhD Students Only

About the Project

Over the last decade, several antibody-based biotherapeutics have been developed for treatment of cancer. These antibodies, often marketed as “targeted therapeutics”, bind to cell surface receptors on cancer cells and direct them towards apoptosis (programmed cell death). However, the same cell surface receptors are also present on healthy cells, leading to severe side effects. If the binding of antibody to its antigen could be activated at the site of cancer cells, it would reduce the side effects of antibody-based therapeutics. The long-term goal of this project is to develop antibodies that can be activated by light at the site of cancer cells, thereby reducing the side effects of therapeutic antibodies.

The successful applicant will be a talented biochemist or chemist with enthusiasm for chemistry, chemical biology, and molecular biology. The candidate will work at the forefront of chemical and synthetic biology and will develop advanced skills in chemical synthesis, various molecular biology and analytical techniques, including molecular cloning, protein expression and purification, gel electrophoresis, western blotting, and HPLC. The research work will be performed in the Chemical and Synthetic Biology laboratories housed in the School of Chemistry, University of East Anglia under the supervision of Dr. Amit Sachdeva and Dr. Maria J. Marin. For more information on the supervisor for this project, please go here https://people.uea.ac.uk/a_sachdeva.

This is a PhD programme. The start date is 1st October 2021. The mode of study is full time.

Entry requirements: Acceptable first degree 2:1 in Biochemistry, Chemistry, Biological Sciences, Chemical Biology

Funding Notes

This PhD project is offered on a self-funding basis. It is open to applicants with funding or those applying to funding sources. Details of tuition fees can be found at https://www.uea.ac.uk/about/university-information/finance-and-procurement/finance-information-for-students/tuition-fees
A bench fee is also payable on top of the tuition fee to cover specialist equipment or laboratory costs required for the research. Applicants should contact the primary supervisor for further information about the fee associated with the project.

References

1. Z. Cheng, E. Kuru, A. Sachdeva and M. Vendrell (2020) Fluorescent amino acids as versatile building blocks for chemical biology. Nature Reviews Chemistry, 4, 275.
2. A. Sachdeva* & T. Bridge (2020) Photoactive antibodies. Patent, Patent Cooperation Treaty, Publication Number: WO2020/193981.
3. T. Bridge, S.A. Shaikh, P. Thomas, J. Botta, P.J. McCormick & A. Sachdeva* (2019) Site‐Specific Encoding of Photoactivity in Antibodies Enables Light‐Mediated Antibody–Antigen Binding on Live Cells. Angewandte Chemie Int. Ed., 58, 17986.
4. D.T. Rogerson, A. Sachdeva, K. Wang, T. Haq, A. Kazlauskaite, S.M. Hancock, N. Huguenin-Dezot, M.M.K. Muqit, A.M. Fry, R. Bayliss and and J.W. Chin. (2015) Efficient genetic encoding of phosphoserine and its non-hydrolyzable analog. Nature Chemical Biology, 11, 496.
5. A. Sachdeva, K. Wang, T.S. Elliott and and J.W. Chin. (2014) Concerted, rapid, quantitative and site-specific dual labeling of protein. Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS), 136, 7785.

Where will I study?

University of East Anglia

We’re one of the UK’s leading research institutions, ranked 10th in the UK for the quality of our research outputs and with more than 1,500 research students.

Lighting up biotheraputics (SACHDEVAA2_U21SF)

University of East Anglia School of Chemistry