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SGUL/LSHTM MRC London Intercollegiate Doctoral Training Partnership – 2017/18 Additional Studentships – Potential PhD Projects
Title of PhD project
Integrating high-throughput serology data to understand
the epidemiology of multiple infectious diseases
Supervisor
Dr Kevin Tetteh
LSHTM
Co-Supervisor
Dr Nuno Sepúlveda
LSHTM
Brief description of project
Immune profiling of infectious diseases is key to find vaccine
targets as well as to inform public authorities on the impact of
different disease control programmes on the populations at
risk. Until now, immune profiling has been carried out for each
disease separately, using data of a limited number of
antibodies (e.g., 2-4 antimalarial antibodies, 2-3 trachoma
antibodies, 2-3 dengue antibodies). Recently a protein
microarray platform that includes more than 100 antigens of
different pathogenic microorganisms was generated in-house.
This high throughput platform has the potential of generating
data for a large number of individuals at a low cost and in a
relatively short period of time. Current challenge is to know
how to explore and integrate these serological data in an
epidemiological context. The project aims testing different
computational approaches (e.g., data reduction and
correlation methods, mathematical models, or machine
learning techniques) to analyse these data. The ultimate goal
is to design a robust analytical framework that could be
instrumental in dissecting the exposure history of a population
in a multiple disease setting.
Particular prior educational
requirements for a student
undertaking this project
None
Skills we expect a student
to develop/acquire whilst
pursuing this project
Programming/computational skills, statistics.
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