About the Project
Plasmodium, the causative agent of malaria, is the most fatal of vector borne protozoan parasites transmitted by infected female mosquitoes. It kills 584,000 people annually (WHO 2014). Measures to control exposure to the mosquito vector have met with limited success. A greater understanding of the basic biology of the parasite and especially of the mechanics of parasite cell division is needed to identify potential candidates which would present prime targets for therapeutic intervention. This is the rational for this project and the focus of the group. Using state of art cutting edge technologies in reverse genetics, RNA seq, Cell Biology, Dug discovery and Biochemistry we have identified few putative candidates and the functional dynamics and localisation will be undertaken in this project. We also collaborate with group at KAUST at Jeddah and who have been our long term collaborators (in bold) as seen in the two publications described for reference.
The University of Nottingham is one of the world’s most respected research-intensive universities, ranked 8th in the UK for research power (REF 2014). Students studying in the School of Life Sciences will have the opportunity to thrive in a vibrant, multidisciplinary environment, with expert supervision from leaders in their field, state-of-the-art facilities and strong links with industry. Students are closely monitored in terms of their personal and professional progression throughout their study period and are assigned academic mentors in addition to their supervisory team. The School provides structured training as a fundamental part of postgraduate personal development and our training programme enables students to develop skills across the four domains of the Vitae Researcher Development Framework (RDF). During their studies, students will also have the opportunity to attend and present at conferences around the world. The School puts strong emphasis on the promotion of postgraduate research with a 2-day annual PhD research symposium attended by all students, plus academic staff and invited speakers.
Funding Notes
Home applicants should contact the supervisor to determine the current funding status for this project. EU applicants should visit the Graduate School webpages for information on specific EU scholarships http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/GraduateSchool/index.aspx. International applicants should visit our International Research Scholarships page for information regarding fees and funding at the University http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/studywithus/international-applicants/scholarships-fees-and-finance/index.aspx.
References
1. Roques M, Wall RJ, Abhinay Ram prasad,,…Ferguson DPJF, Wheatley S……Holder AA Pain A, Wickstead B,Tewari R, 2015. Plasmodium P-Type Cyclin CYC3 modulates endomitotic growth during oocyst development in mosquitoes. PLoS Pathog. 11(11), e1005273
2. Guttery DS, Poulin B, Ramaprasad A, Wall RJ, Ferguson DJ, Brady D, Patzewitz EM, Whipple S, Straschil U, Wright MH, Mohamed AM, Radhakrishnan A, Arold ST, Tate EW, Holder AA, Wickstead B, Pain A, Tewari R. Genome-wide Functional Analysis of Plasmodium Protein Phosphatases Reveals Key Regulators of Parasite Development and Differentiation.Cell Host Microbe 2014; 16(1):128-40.