NERC GW4+ DTP PhD Studentship: The chemical ecology of disease - Using chemical analytics to predict epidemics and mitigate infection

This project is one of a number that are in competition for funding from the NERC Great Western Four+ Doctoral Training Partnership (GW4+ DTP). The GW4+ DTP consists of the Great Western Four alliance of the University of Bath, University of Bristol, Cardiff University and the University of Exeter plus six Research Organisation partners: British Antarctic Survey, British Geological Survey, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, the Met Office, the Natural History Museum and Plymouth Marine Laboratory. The partnership aims to provide a broad training in earth and environmental sciences, designed to train tomorrow’s leaders in earth and environmental science. For further details about the programme, please see http://nercgw4plus.ac.uk/.

Supervisory team -

Main Supervisor: Dr. Nicholas K. Priest, Department of Biology & Biochemistry, University of Bath
Co-Supervisor: Prof. Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern, Department of Chemistry, University of Bath
Co-Supervisor: Ruth Barden from Wessex Water as CASE Partner

CASE Partner: Wessex Water
Our collaboration with Wessex Water is longstanding and has been very fruitful. The student will work closely with Ruth Barden from the Water Research team.

Project background -

Previous research in chemical ecology shows that suites of chemicals and metabolites in wastewater are predictive of disease in humans. The potential is there to develop wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) as an innovative approach for identifying real-time information on exposure of human populations to pesticides, xenobiotics and diseases. But, we have little detailed information in any given species about which nutrients and metabolites are passed during infection. And, we do not have biological systems which permit us to understand how internal chemistry is altered during infection. This is a severe problem because understanding the nutrients and metabolites passed during infection could provide simple nutritional remedies for infection and could lead to tools for biomonitoring of the health of human populations.

Project aims and methods -

The goal of this PhD project is to employ advanced techniques in analytical chemistry for predictive biomonitoring and nutritional mitigation of infection. The basic plan is to work with parasitology labs across the GW4 (including Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter) to understand how nutrients are passed during infection, to test whether we can mitigate against infection by compensatory feeding with nutrients lost during infection, and (working with our CASE partner Wessex Water) to study how shifts in the chemical composition of human waste water predict the health of the population.

This studentship will first examine the mechanistic link between the intake of specific nutrient, susceptibility to infection, and shifts in internal chemistry. This will be done in a range of systems, including fruit flies, vinegar flies, crickets, and mice (samples will be sent from Bath, Bristol, Exeter and Cardiff, respectively). We will conduct replicate population, fully factorial experiments to test whether supplemental feeding of nutrients commonly lost during infection mitigate against infection. And, we will extend this work by testing for associations between public health and the chemical composition of waste water.

Candidate -

This project is appropriate for a student seeking interdisciplinary training and research. It combines the fields of chemistry, dietary science, infection and immunity, and mathematical biology.

Training -

This PhD will provide interdisciplinary training in impact chemical ecology. The first year of study will include two rotations. The first will provide basic skills in animal epidemiology, analytical chemistry, microbiology, in vitro assays of pathogenic microbes, and in media-specific culture. The second rotation with involve training in advanced techniques in analytical chemistry and genomics. The PhD itself will have substantial scope for creativity. Our collaborative partners from Bristol (John Bridle), Cardiff (Jo Cable and Sarah Perkins), Exeter (John Hunt), will provide guidance and material from a range of experimental systems.

Anticipated start date: 1 October 2018

Candidates should apply using the University of Bath’s online application form selecting PhD programme in Biology https://www.bath.ac.uk/study/pg/applications.pl#bio-sci

Further information on the Department of Biology & Biochemistry may be found here http://www.bath.ac.uk/bio-sci/