PhD Opportunity : Gastrointestinal immune-related adverse events and microbiome
The aim of this 4 year PhD is to identify microbial species that interact with IgA-producing cells in the gut in patients presenting with severe immune-related adverse events from immunotherapy with checkpoint inhibitors (CPI).
The student will learn molecular biology methods (DNA extraction, Next-generation Sequencing), cellular and immunoassays and bioinformatics. The project will be supervised by Prof. Munir Pirmohamed and Dr. Vanessa Fontana (University of Liverpool, MRC Centre for Drug Safety Science) and Dr. Gregory Amos and Dr Sjoerd Rijpkema (The National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC), Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory agency).
The student will be based in Liverpool during the first 12 months and the following 12 months at NIBSC. Placement thereafter will be determined by the needs of the project, but we anticipate that there will be a need for some flexibility for travelling between Liverpool and NIBSC.