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Potential Projects & Supervisors


Our Centre draws upon a diverse range of academic expertise from within our partner institutions. As a result, a broad range of potential projects are available for development into competitive fellowship proposals through the Centre. Some of the projects below have been put forward by the Centre's Board Members - click to review their research interests.

Applicants to the Wellcome Trust Clinical PhD Programme are encouraged to develop their own project ideas as part of the first year of this fellowship, although the potential projects listed below can serve as the basis for development of new research proposals.

If you are interested in developing a research proposal with one of our potential supervisors, on either one of the topics and themes below, or a new proposal of your own; please contact us to discuss your ideas further.

Prof Imelda Bates
  • [Projects focussing on] anaemia and blood transfusion in Africa.
Prof Mathew Baylis
  • Effect of climate on the epidemiology of vector-borne disease.
Prof Michael Beresford
  • Immune system regulation investigating interferon interactions with neutrophils in JSLE and the development and understanding of kidney involvement in Lupus Nephritis.
Dr Ruaidhri Carmody
  •  Investigating the host transcriptional response to malaria infection.
Prof Enitan Carrol
  • Microcirculatory imaging for dynamic guidance of fluid therapy in sepsis.
Prof Liz Corbett
  • Treatment of Chronic Lung Disease in HIV-infected Children in Africa. A multisite controlled trial of weekly azithromycin treatment.
  • Stimulating and shaping the market for HIV self-testing in Africa: two-tier demonstration and evaluation of accuracy and linkage in 4 countries.
  • Community-led practical approach to lung health (CL-PAL): development and trial of interventions to increase demand for, and access to, TB/HIV diagnosis and care in Blantyre, Malawi
  • Rapid Urine-Based Screening for Tuberculosis to Reduce AIDS-Related Mortality in Hospitalized Patients in Africa - (STAMP) Trial.
Prof Alister Craig
  • Endothelial dysregulation in severe malaria.
Prof Nigel Cunliffe
  • Norovirus: an emerging pathogen in the post-rotavirus vaccine era in Malawi.
Prof Eileen Devaney
  • microRNAs and their roles in the filarial life cycle
Dr Dean Everett
  • Deciphering pneumococcal serotype 1 acquisition and transmission in an African setting.
  • The immunological role of key meningitis associated genes determined through whole genome sequencing [with Prof Aras Kadioglu].
  • The burden of Group A Streptococcal disease in Africa. Understanding disease pathogenesis through genomics and in vivo modeling.
Prof Brian Faragher
  • Estimating sample size and statistical power of cluster randomized trials and other complex intervention designs using computer simulation methods.
Prof Neil French
  • Understanding the clinical and molecular epidemiology of group A streptococcal infections in Africa.
  • The vaginal microbiome and risk of adverse pregnancy and neonatal outcome in a region of high peripartum morbidity.
  • Optimising the control of respiratory disease in ART treated HIV infected African adults.
  • Re-defining the most prevalent causes of febrile morbidity and mortality in young children in the era of falling malaria mortality, PMTCT and improved vaccine coverage.
Prof Paul Garside
  • A variety of projects examining the immune response in infectious and non-communicable disease
Prof Anna Maria Geretti
  • HIV reservoirs of hidden drug resistance: Can they compromise the success of HIV treatment?
Prof Stephen Gordon
  • The effect of biomass fuel smoke on pulmonary defence in a population at risk from HIV-related pneumonia.
  • Effect of household air pollution on non-communicable disease in adults; biomarkers of health effects of household air pollution.
  • Pneumococcal carriage and the risk of pneumococcal infection.
  • Pulmonary defence against infection.
  • Mucosal vaccination, vaccine adjuvants and adjuvant treatment in pneumococcal infection.
Prof Simon Harding
  • Retinopathy in paediatric neurological infectious disease in Malawi.
    Simon Harding, Nicholas Beare, Terrie Taylor

  • Improving the outcome from corneal infection in sub-Saharan Africa
    Stephen Kaye, Simon Harding, Tim Neal

  • Systems for treatment and prevention of diabetic retinopathy in sub-Saharan Africa
    Nicholas Beare, Simon Harding, Teresa Allain
Prof Julian Hiscox
  • High resolution analysis of Ebola virus infection; from cell to patient.
Dr Kondwani Jambo & Dr Megan Macleod (University of Glasgow)
  • Molecular characterisation of lung memory CD4 T cells

Prof Aras Kadioglu
  • Investigating the causes of host susceptibility to pneumococcal disease
  • The immunological control of pneumococcal carriage
  • The role of capsule in immune evasion by African serotype-1 strains during pneumococcal nasopharyngeal carriage (with Dean Everett)
Prof Saye Khoo
  • Pharmacogenetics of HIV, TB or hepatitis therapy
  • Interaction between NCDs and the HIV epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa
  • The compartmental pharmacology of infectious diseases
  • Modelling of adherence and pharmacokinetic ‘forgiveness’ for HIV
Prof Harry de-Koning
  • cAMP signalling in Schistosoma mansoni: the role of phosphodiesterases
Prof David Lalloo
  • Improving poor outcomes in cryptococcal meningitis.
Prof Pasquale Maffia
  • Investigating adaptive immunity contribution to atherosclerosis.

Dr Kevin Mortimer
  • Lung health in sub Saharan Africa.
Prof Richard Pleass
  • To explore Fc-fusion based vaccines using malaria as an exemplar (with Britta Urban and Dr Simon Draper at the Jenner Institute).
  • To explore Fc-fusion based drugs to control pneumonia, keratitis and metastatic cancers (with Profs Simon Gordon, Aras Kadioglu (UoL), Prof McPherson, Leeds, Dr Joe Turner, LSTM).
Prof Chris Probert
  •  Volatile organic compounds as biomarkers of enteric infection and an exploration of their source.
Prof Mark Pritchard
  • Pathogenesis of H. pylori associated peptic ulceration and gastric adenocarcinoma in a resource poor African setting.
Prof Hilary Ranson
  • Malaria Vector Control.
Prof Atif Rahman
  • Mental health implementation in the context of humanitarian emergencies

  • Maternal and child mental health: implementation challenges in low income settings

Dr Jonathan Read
  • Modelling vaccination programmes to identify cost-effective solutions
  • Seasonal influenza evolution and population-scale processes
  • Understanding the spatial dynamics of viral infections
Professor Tom Solomon
  • A range of projects on neurological infections ion Africa, Asia and Latin America

Prof Bertie Squire
  • Using applied health research to build the evidence base for development, uptake and implementation of innovations to improve access to care for poor populations with TB and chronic lung disease including:

    • Health system modelling
    • Pragmatic trials
    • Cohort studies
    • Multi-method evaluation, including qualitative and economic approaches.
Prof Russell Stothard
  • Epidemiology and control of schistosomiasis in pre-school children.
Prof Mark Taylor
  • New approaches to treating and morbidity management for onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis.
Dr Anja (Dianne) Terlouw
  • Accelerating malaria transmission reduction in areas of high, heterogeneous transmission:

    • Using antimalarials to accelerate malaria transmission reduction. (pharmaco-epidemiology)
    • Improving local monitoring to inform real-time, targeted malaria control efforts (multidisciplinary: clinical-entomological monitoring, epi-stats method development: clinical surveillance - mapping and burden modelling)
    • Targeting integrated malaria control to hotspots to accelerate transmission reduction.
Dr Sally Theobald
  • Community health workers and gender equity
Dr Britta Urban
  • Evolution of cross-reactive B cell responses to the Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 in children with severe and mild malaria (Jim Brewer, Wilson Mandala, Britta Urban) -

  • Effect of T cell phenotype and function  on B cell responses to Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 ( Jim Brewer, Britta Urban) -

  • Evaluation of immunisation strategies which focus B cell responses to epitopes shared between variants of Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 -( Jim Brewer, Britta Urban)

Prof Steve Ward
  • Metabolomic signatures in human TB infection and the relationship with clinical outcomes and therapeutic response
  • Parasite and host determinants of artemisinin efficacy
  • Optimised chemotherapeutic approaches to malaria eradication
Prof Duolao Wang
  • Use of propensity scores for health research and evaluation.
  • Bayesian model averaging approach to prognostic models.
Prof Andrew Weeks
  • The diagnosis and management of postpartum haemorrhage.
  • The development of low cost interventions to improve maternal and newborn health.
Prof Daniel Wight
  • How context affects the transferability of programmes to reduce harsh parenting, especially between high and low income countries.
  • How global inequalities in the global knowledge economy are perpetuated by universities and research funders in high income countries.
Prof Janneke van de Wijgert
  • The impact of vaginal microbiome compositions on reproductive health and disease.
Prof Hugh Wilison
  • Investigating the immunopathogenesis of Guillain-Barré syndrome in Malawi
Prof Sally Wyke
  • How to use theory, evidence and experience in the development and evaluation of interventions to a) improve response to symptoms to reduce poor health outcomes; b) reduce risk of NCDs