Applications accepted for PhD Only
Haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) sense peripheral inflammation allowing immune cell production in the bone marrow to be tailored to ongoing demands. This is relatively well understood for viral, bacterial and protozoal infections where microbial factors and proinflammatory cytokines direct HSC differentiation. In contrast, we have much less understanding of how type 2 immune responses induced by helminth parasites impact on immune cell differentiation. Research in the Hewitson lab focuses on the disease schistosomiasis with schistosome parasites infecting >200M people worldwide. We have found that schistosome infection causes substantial changes to immune cell differentiation and that these changes persist after parasite clearance. This has strong implications for anti-parasite immune responses as well as to unrelated challenges such as co-infections or vaccines. In this PhD, you will explore how schistosome infection remodels haematopoiesis and the impact of this on broader immune responses. You will develop skills in immunology, haematology and parasitology including in vivo biology, flow cytometry, confocal microscopy, cell culture and transcriptomic/bioinformatic pipelines. The project is jointly supervised by experts in parasite immunology (Hewitson) and haematopoiesis (Dr. David Kent, York), and we welcome applicants with interest in these areas.
The York Biomedical Research Institute at the University of York is committed to recruiting extraordinary future scientists regardless of age, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation or career pathway to date. We understand that commitment and excellence can be shown in many ways and have built our recruitment process to reflect this. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds, particularly those underrepresented in science, who have curiosity, creativity and a drive to learn new skills.
Entry Requirements: Students with, or expecting to gain, at least an upper second class honours degree, or equivalent, are invited to apply. The interdisciplinary nature of this programme means that we welcome applications from students with backgrounds in any biological, chemical, and/or physical science, or students with mathematical backgrounds who are interested in using their skills in addressing biological questions.
Programme: PhD in Biomedical Science (3 years)
Start Date: 1st October 2022
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