Development of Theranostic Antibodies for the Detection, Management and Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease

Supervisors: Professor Andy Porter (https://www.abdn.ac.uk/ims/profiles/a.porter) and Dr Soumya Palliyil

A three year full-time PhD studentship is available at the Scottish Biologics Facility, University of Aberdeen, funded by TauRx Therapeutics. The successful candidate will be part of a biologics drug discovery programme focusing on neurodegenerative diseases. The student will be based in the Scottish Biologics Facility (SBF), a biologics drug discovery facility that uses the latest cutting edge technologies in recombinant antibody generation and their development as therapeutic agents, diagnostics and research tools (www.abdn.ac.uk/sbf). TauRx Therapeutics is a leader in Alzheimer’s disease with a lead Phase 3 compound recently completing clinical trials in over twenty different countries (www.taurx.com).

Utilising the latest protein and antibody engineering techniques, this project will look into the development of monoclonal antibodies and their fragments with high specificity and affinity towards protein targets of interest in Alzheimer’s disease. The project involves characterisation of the binding properties of existing monoclonal antibody fragments isolated from immunised sheep antibody libraries using phage display technology. Additional selection and screening steps will be performed as part of this project to identify new antibody binders which recognise epitopes of interest within the target protein. Based on affinity ranking and binding kinetics (BIAcore analysis), best-in-class clones will be converted into full length mAbs and expressed in a mammalian expression system. The student will also work with the existing antibody project team to develop a cell-based assay system to evaluate the ability of lead antibodies to prevent cellular uptake of aggregated tau protein and the spread of neurodegeneration.

To undertake this research, we are seeking a highly motivated candidate with a minimum of a 2.1 Honours degree or a Masters degree with Commendation/Distinction in any of the following areas:

Microbiology
Molecular Biology
Biotechnology
Molecular Genetics

or a cognate discipline. Some knowledge and experience of molecular cloning, cell culture, experimental work and an ability to work effectively as an independent researcher will be an added advantage.