Studentship 1

BBSRC-CASE (GlaxoSmithKline) –funded PhD Studentship (four years) to develop in vitro mucus-secreting models of the airway to investigate drug permeability and irritancy in the lung.

Are you a highly motivated individual looking for an opportunity to undertake a challenging University and industrially-based PhD? Mucus overproduction is an important feature of chronic inflammatory airway diseases and inhaled drugs are often delivered to such diseased airways. The effect of mucus on drug absorption is poorly understood because there are few in vitro systems capable of modelling the effect of mucus on drug permeability. This studentship will focus on the use and development of mucus-secreting cell lines derived from human airways to study (a) the effect of mucus secretion on the permeability of inhaled drugs (e.g. small molecules, biopharmaceuticals and siRNA) and (b) the effects of these drugs on mucus secretion and pro-inflammatory mediator release.

Cells will be cultured on microporous supports and their mucus-secreting capabilities characterised and quantified using a combination of microscopy and an enzyme-linked lectin binding assay. The transport of fluorescent markers and immunohistochemistry will be used to investigate the barrier function of the cells and drug irritancy will be assessed by measuring cytokine release. The successful applicant will be required to travel to the industrial partner to undertake research within their facilities.

Further details are available from Dr Lansley/Lethem on 01273 644795 or by email; a.lansley@brighton.ac.uk  or m.i.lethem@brighton.ac.uk. 

Salary: £18,590

Applicants should be EU or UK nationals and should have, or be about to obtain, a first or 2(i) honours degree in the area of Pharmacy/Biology/Chemistry or related discipline. This studentship is available from October 2011.

Studentship 2

Are you a highly motivated individual looking for an opportunity to undertake a challenging PhD in the physical or life sciences? A funded studentship is available in the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences at the University of Brighton to work on one of the following projects:

• Mining Bugs for Drugs: Discovery and characterisation of novel bioactive agents from the human gut microbiome.
• Understanding alterations in colonic mucosal serotonin and ATP signalling during ulcerative colitis.
• Development of novel composite electrochemical sensors for multi-analyte detection.

Further details are available from Claire Ryan, Senior Research Administrator, on 01273 642684 or C.Ryan2@brighton.ac.uk.

Applicants, who should be UK or EU nationals, should have a first or 2(i) honours degree in a relevant subject. This studentship is available from October 2011.

Applications

To apply for either studentship, please submit an application form online here or contact Ms Claire Ryan, Senior Research Administrator, on 01273 642684 or c.ryan2@brighton.ac.uk for further details on the application process.

Closing date for both studentships is 31th May 2011. Interviews will take place in May/June 2011.