Description
Immunity to malaria is slow to develop due to the rapid induction of regulatory cell responses that hamper adaptive immunity. Type I IFN signalling is key to these regulatory cell responses. In a world’s first Phase 1b clinical trial, we tested whether Ruxolitinib, a JAK1/2 inhibitor, could block Type I IFN signalling and improve protective immunity to malaria in humans.
This project will used human clinical samples collected during Phase 1b clinical trial to understand the impact of Type I IFN signalling blockade on protective immune development in humans. You will learn to apply advanced immunology techniques (for example multiparametric flow cytometry, RNAseq, multiomic analysis), and analyse data using bioinformatic pipelines, and advanced statistical methods.
Understanding immune development in this unique clinical trial will allow researchers to develop approaches to boost protective immunity to malaria, leading to novel therapeutics in the future.
Essential criteria:
Minimum entry requirements can be found here: https://www.monash.edu/admissions/entry-requirements/minimum
Keywords
Malaria, immunity, multiomic analysis, infectious disease, clinical trials
Available options
PhD/Doctorate
Masters by research
Honours
BMedSc(Hons)
Time commitment
Full-time
Part-time
Top-up scholarship funding available
Yes
Year 1:
$15000
Year 2:
$15000
Year 3:
$15000
Year 4:
$15000
Physical location
Burnet Institute
Co-supervisors
Dr
Damian Oyong
(External)
Prof
Christian Engwerda
(External)