Coinfection Dynamics in African Children: investigating multiple infections diagnosed simultaneously by a combination of serological and multiplex PCR

Project option 1 (of 5)
Please note only one Ker Memorial Studentship will be awarded in total.
Candidates should contact potential supervisors to discuss projects prior to making an application.

• Significant progress was been made towards achieving Millennium Development Goal 4 - to reduce child mortality by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015,- but to achieve greater impact on child mortality in Africa; we need to refine our knowledge of risk factors for poor health, disease and mortality. This includes risk factors for co-morbidities due both to multiple infections and non-infectious diseases, and causes of variable responses to childhood vaccines. Such information will help develop cost-effective integrated interventions and optimize the use of already available tools.
• To date, there have been no large scale, integrated studies of the pathogens that young African children are exposed to. This is partly due to the traditional approach of studying infections one at a time and, related to this, the lack of approaches to diagnose multiple infections.
• This project will improve on this by investigating multiple infections diagnosed simultaneously by a combination of serological and multiplex PCR. This will include the more frequently studied mycobacterial infections, Plasmodium parasites (causative agents of malaria), intestinal worms, and schistosomiasis (bilharzia). This population based study will characterise the multiple infections African children are exposed to and determine their effects of the host immunological phenotype, for example determine if children infected with certain combinations of parasites/parasite groups express a predominantly inflammatory phenotype.
• The data collected will also be used in quantitative studies identifying risk factors for infection and to predict prognosis, with the ultimate aim of improving intervention strategies. The study will involve novel and innovative laboratory procedures for multiplex determination of infection history (the “infectome”), responses to childhood vaccines and self-antigens, and relating these to accompanying changes in the immune phenotype.

Edinburgh Infectious Diseases is the network of researchers across the city of Edinburgh with an interest in infectious disease. It includes basic scientists, clinicians, veterinarians, and social scientists and provides a vibrant environment for exciting collaborative research.

As part of our development of ground-breaking multidisciplinary research in infectious diseases, the new Ker Memorial Studentship will be held jointly in the School of Biological Sciences and the Deanery of Biomedical Sciences. It offers the successful student the opportunity to undertake world class research, alongside invaluable career development training in teaching.

Pease see below links to the other 4 possible projects offered for the Ker Memorial PhD Studentship. Please note only 1 studentship will be awarded.

https://www.findaphd.com/search/ProjectDetails.aspx?PJID=79066&LID=462
https://www.findaphd.com/search/ProjectDetails.aspx?PJID=79067&LID=462
https://www.findaphd.com/search/ProjectDetails.aspx?PJID=79062&LID=3300
https://www.findaphd.com/search/ProjectDetails.aspx?PJID=79063&LID=3300