Vaccines without refrigeration –novel method of ensilication to make vaccines thermally stable

Supervisory team:
Dr. Asel Sartbaeva (Chemistry)
Prof. Jean van den Elsen (Biology and Biochemistry)
Dr. Françoise Koumanov (Health Science)

Overview:

We are offering a PhD scholarship funded by Sue and Roger Whorrod and the University of Bath in development of chemical coating for vaccines for storage and transport without refrigeration. The project will involve synthesis using sol-gel methods, characterisation and assay measurements, spectroscopy and microscopy measurements and the development of a working protocol for the vaccine ensilication.

Project description:

Vaccines are very valuable substances. They have to be refrigerated at 2-8°C, otherwise they spoil due to a physical unfolding. Maintaining cold chain is a serious burden in healthcare and in many countries around the world cold chain cannot be maintained due to the lack of energy and infrastructure.

Our newly developed silica coating for vaccine preserves proteins from unfolding even at very harsh conditions. After we have applied silica coating around each protein, they can be stored at room temperatures and transported without refrigeration. We do not rely on freeze-drying which is the biggest advantage of our method compared to others being developed today. We have also devised a release method where we can chemically remove silica and use the proteins. Today we are working on a method for breaking the silica shell physically, which will make is easy for the healthcare workers to administer vaccines. In this project, we want to take a real vaccine (such as DTP for example) and develop a protocol for its ensilcaition and release.

For background please see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHD_rBfgZvw and https://www.nature.com/articles/srep46568

Work might involve travel to National Facilities (Diamond Synchrotron and ISIS neutron source) and collaborators around UK to collect data.

Students with a background in Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biology, Drug Delivery, Immunology, Pharmacy and Pharmacology, and related subjects are invited to apply for this 42 month fully-funded project. Students with a background in Immunology, Vaccinology, Pharmacy and Pharmacology and Protein Biology will be considered, provided they have at least A level or equivalent in Chemistry.

Application process:

If interested in this PhD, in the first instance, please email Dr Sartbaeva a short cover letter detailing your background and future research interests (up to 4000 words) and a curriculum vitae: [Email Address Removed] (Please do not send large files, they will not be accepted by our e-mail system).

After a reply from Dr. Asel Sartbaeva confirming your eligibility, please ask at least two referees to send their reference letters to Dr. Asel Sartbaeva directly. The deadline for applications is 20 July 2017. All reference letters should be sent before 21 July 2017. Potential candidates will be invited for an interview. All interviews will take place in the week starting 24 July 2017.