Health and Biological Sciences

Supervisors:

Dr Fandi Ibrahim, Dr Suha Al-Naimi, Dr Federica Masieri and Visiting Professor, Mr Martin Sinclair

The Project

Enhanced gut barrier function is an essential physical, cellular, and immunological barrier for gut health and beyond. Yet, it still needs to allow for the absorption of nutrients vital for survival and maintaining health. There is a fine tune between those two opposing functions known as gut permeability. The most notable example of dietary factors impact on gut barrier function can be seen in the case of gluten effects in coeliac disease patients. However, little is known about other dietary factors impact on various healthy and diseased circumstances whether it is a direct impact or indirect effect mediated via gut microbial metabolites and their interactions. Impaired gut barrier is also a feature of microbial dysbiosis which in turn associated with gut related diseases, obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular risk. Therefore, this PhD project aims to explore the role of a selected dietary factors on gut barrier function and their mechanism of actions and potential health consequences beyond the gut. The dietary factors to be investigated could include to dietary fibre, resistant proteins, as well as various gut microbial metabolites and microbial components.

Candidate Requirements

Applicants should hold, or expect to receive, a First Class or good Upper Second-Class Honours degree in Nutrition or closely related subjects. A master’s level qualification would also be advantageous but not essential.

Non-UK applicants must meet our English language entry requirement.

Enquiries and Applications

Informal enquiries are welcomed and should be directed to Dr Fandi Ibrahim, f.ibrahim@uos.ac.uk

KEYWORDS

Gut barrier function, gut permeability, gut microbiota, probiotics, dietary fibre, irritable bowel syndrome, gut microbial dysbiosis, gluten.

Supervisors:

Primary Supervisor/PI: Dr Federica F. Masieri

Supervisory Team: Dr David Chau (UCL), Dr Fandi Ibrahim

Project description and rationale

We are looking for a motivated graduate to join our award-nominated Biotechnology Unit Lab to work on an exciting project under the supervision of Dr Federica F. Masieri in collaboration with industrial and academic partners.

Muscle has high injury and degeneration susceptibility, posing a burden of muscle-related injuries on the NHS.

This study aims at exploring new avenues of biophysical stimulation onto muscle cells, coupled with innovative graphene-based biomaterials. Pulsed Electromagnetic Fields (PEMFs) with selected low-frequency and low-energy biophysical characteristics have shown to counteract inflammation in a variety of musculoskeletal models in vitro and in vivo, whilst promoting anabolic activities in bone, cartilage and tendon. Interestingly, PEMF has a role in supporting the in vitro differentiation of cells of the mesenchymal lineage, whilst counteracting the detrimental activity of a pro-inflammatory milieu. Recent evidence suggests that selected PEMF stimuli control the proliferation and modulate the release of myokines in myoblast cells grown in vitro.

This project aims at refining current protocols of application of PEMF in myoblast-like cells grown in vitro, to further elucidate the functional role of the biophysical stimulation in controlling an inflamed microenvironment and identify cellular targets and mechanisms of actions through which PEMF may exert its function. In the first phase of the project, the effect of PEMF will be tested on at least two cell models (muscle cell line and myoblast-like cells derived from induced pluripotent stem cells). Subsequently, the evidence obtained will be used to define, in collaboration with our national and international partners, a quasi-vivo model of muscle cell grown in combination with a range of biocompatible hydrogel materials functionalized with graphene, mimicking as closely as possible the architecture of a muscle fibre, to test the effect of PEMF on a scaled-up model, with impact on future translation of the evidence collected towards the clinics.

Related references:

1. Masieri et al. (2018 a) Orthopaedic Proceedings  https://online.boneandjoint.org.uk/doi/abs/10.1302/1358-992X.2018.15.073
2. Masieri et al. (2018 b) Osteoarthritis and Cartilage https://www.oarsijournal.com/article/S1063-4584(18)30428-X/abstract
3. Ongaro et al. (2015) J Tissue Eng Regen Med https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/term.1671
4. Ongaro et al. (2012) J Cell Physiol https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jcp.22981
5. De Mattei et al. (2009) Osteoarthritis and Cartilage https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1063458408001933

Training and Facilities

The PhD student associated to this project will benefit from the access to state-of-the-art cell biology and biotechnology laboratories located at the James Hehir Building Biotechnology Unit, including, amongst others, dedicated tissue culture facilities, a fluorescence microscopy suit and equipment for molecular and cellular analysis. For what concerns the biomaterials, these will be synthesised in collaboration with bioengineering experts based at University College London (UCL). Here, the student will have the chance of learning and conducting a range of advanced tests for biomaterial analysis and characterisation. Moreover, the student will benefit from the involvement of industrial stakeholders, gaining a perspective of industry-driven translational research. Finally, the student will benefit from seminars, workshops and other ad-hoc training provided both by the scientists involved in the project, as well as by our Graduate School.

Candidate Requirements

The project is to be considered self-funded, however, there is guaranteed access to laboratories and equipment, and to some basic consumables for lab work.

The ideal candidate should hold, or be expected to receive, a First Class or good Upper Second-Class Honours degree in Biosciences/ Biological Sciences, Biomedical Sciences, Biotechnology, or closely related subjects. A master’s level qualification would also be advantageous but not essential. We might consider exceptional and motivated candidates not holding the above, but with a demonstrable track-record of industry and professional experience. Practice of laboratory work will constitute a plus, especially if the candidate has skills of tissue culturing, and/or biochemical and molecular analysis.

Non-UK applicants must meet our English language entry requirement.

Enquiries and Applications

Informal enquiries are welcomed and should be directed to Dr Federica F. Masieri f.masieri@uos.ac.uk

KEYWORDS

Muscle cells, biomaterials, biophysical stimuli, graphene, muscle tissue engineering

Primary Supervisor/PI: Dr Federica F. Masieri

Supervisory Team: Ms. Vanessa Ward

Project description and rationale

We are looking for a motivated graduate to join our award-nominated Biotechnology Unit Lab to work on an exciting project under the supervision of Dr Federica F. Masieri

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a progressive joint disease that causes pain, inflammation and lack of mobility. Several cells play a role in joint tissue homeostasis and disease; amongst these, fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs) play a central role, via the release of a plethora of pro-inflammatory mediators contributing to the OA microenvironment.

Recently, we have derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from normal and OA FLSs, using a non-integrative technique based on Sendai virus. These cells represent a powerful tool for the study of cell pathways underlined in OA and may have a future impact application in personalised OA therapy.

Based on the above, the aims of this project involve the further characterisation of our iPSC lines in vitro, via the application of protocols of differentiation towards the mesenchymal lineage and further specification towards becoming cells pertaining to joint tissues, including, amongst others, chondrocyte and osteoblast precursors. These protocols, informed by recent meta-analysis studies on FLS markers of OA, will help refining our model of ‘OA disease in a cell culture dish’.

Related references

1.  Sharp and Masieri (2021)

https://www.oarsijournal.com/article/S1063-4584(22)00193-5/fulltext#relatedArticles

Training and Facilities

The PhD student associated to this project will benefit from the access to state-of-the-art cell biology and biotechnology laboratories located at the James Hehir Building Biotechnology Unit, including, amongst others, dedicated tissue culture facilities, a fluorescence microscopy suit and equipment for molecular and cellular analysis. The student will benefit from seminars, workshops and other ad-hoc training provided both by the scientists involved in the project, as well as by our Graduate School.

Candidate Requirements

The project is to be considered self-funded, however, there is guaranteed access to laboratories and equipment, and to some basic consumables for lab work.

The ideal candidate should hold, or be expected to receive, a First Class or good Upper Second-Class Honours degree in Biosciences/ Biological Sciences, Biomedical Sciences, Biotechnology, or closely related subjects. A master’s level qualification would also be advantageous but not essential. We might consider exceptional and motivated candidates not holding the above, but with a demonstrable track-record of industry and professional experience. Practice of laboratory work will constitute a plus, especially if the candidate has skills of tissue culturing, and/or biochemical and molecular analysis.

Non-UK applicants must meet our English language entry requirement.

Enquiries and Applications

Informal enquiries are welcomed and should be directed to Dr Federica F. Masieri f.masieri@uos.ac.uk

KEYWORDS

Induced pluripotent stem cells, osteoarthritis, iPSCs, inflammation, stem cell differentiation, disease modelling

Primary Supervisor: Dr Nick Tucker

P. aeruginosa is an inherently antibiotic resistant pathogen and has been classified as ‘critical’ by the WHO in its list of pathogens for which new antibiotics are required. P. aeruginosa is a major bacterial pathogen of patients with cystic fibrosis. This project aims to determine the transcriptomic response of P. aeruginosa to drugs used to treat pulmonary disease, including those used to treat cystic fibrosis such as the three drug cocktail Kaftrio. Initial data suggests that components of Kaftrio cause upregulation of iron starvation genes in P. aeruginosa strain PA14. This project will investigate the transcriptional regulators that are responsible for this response along with the siderophore biosynthesis genes that they control.

Candidate Requirements

The project is to be considered self-funded, however, there is guaranteed access to laboratories and equipment, and to some basic consumables for lab work.

The ideal candidate should hold, or be expected to receive, a First Class or good Upper Second-Class Honours degree in Biological Sciences, Biomedical Science, Microbiology, Biochemistry or a related discipline. A master’s level qualification would also be advantageous but not essential. 

Non-UK applicants must meet our English language entry requirement.

Enquiries and Applications

Informal enquiries are welcomed and should be directed to Dr Nick Tucker nick.tucker@uos.ac.uk

KEYWORDS

Microbiology, Pseudomonas, Sustainability, Synthetic Biology, Genetics, Genomics, Biochemistry, Infectious Disease, Transcription

Primary Supervisor: Dr Nick Tucker

P. putida is tolerant to a wide variety of solvents, particularly those used by the plastics industry. It is ideally suited to the sustainable production of plastic monomers using synthetic biology approaches as an alternative to petrochemical feedstocks. This project is an industrial collaboration with a major international chemical corporation. We have previously identified efflux systems that confer resistance to various solvents used by the plastics industry and the transcriptional regulators that control their expression. The aim of this project is to disrupt these RND family efflux pumps in P. putida so that the chemical substrates for each system can be determined. This work will provide valuable insights into the prioritisation of RND efflux systems in synthetic biology based strain improvement strategies.

Candidate Requirements

The project is to be considered self-funded, however, there is guaranteed access to laboratories and equipment, and to some basic consumables for lab work.

The ideal candidate should hold, or be expected to receive, a First Class or good Upper Second-Class Honours degree in Biological Sciences, Biomedical Science, Microbiology, Biochemistry or a related discipline. A master’s level qualification would also be advantageous but not essential. 

Non-UK applicants must meet our English language entry requirement.

Enquiries and Applications

Informal enquiries are welcomed and should be directed to Dr Nick Tucker nick.tucker@uos.ac.uk

KEYWORDS

Microbiology, Pseudomonas, Sustainability, Synthetic Biology, Genetics, Genomics, Biochemistry, Infectious Diease, Transcription