PhD Scholarship in 'Using nanoparticles to enhance the immune response and improve vaccine efficacy'

This project will examine the immune response to vaccines using various nanoparticle formulations and determine how they interact with cells to generate a strong immune response, capable of protecting against severe diseases such as cancer or malaria. The study aims to examine the immune response to vaccines using various nanoparticle formulations and adjuvant combinations and examining how they interact with cells of the immune system to generate a strong immune response, capable of protecting against severe diseases such as ovarian cancer or malaria. The laboratory focuses on viral sized nanoparticles as adjuvanting vaccine delivery systems to improve both the antibody mediated and cellular immune response. These nanoparticles can either have the vaccine antigen attached to their surface, or be simply mixed with the antigen with a combination of other adjuvants to increase the vaccine response. The research will use new and standard cell biology and immunology techniques to assess the phenotype and function of immune cells from animal models, including multicolour flowcytometry, cell sorting, multiplex cytokine analysis, IVIS imaging, as well as ELISA, ELISPOT, immunohistology/immunofluorescence, proliferation and functional T cell assays.