PhD Studentship: Covalent inhibition of streptococcal glucan sucrases to disrupt oral biofilm development

PhD Supervisor: Dr Seung Lee  

Supervisory Team: Dr Seung Lee (School of Chemistry), Prof. Jeremy Webb (School of Biological Sciences and national Biofilms Innovation Centre), Prof. Paul Stoodley (University of Southampton and Ohio State University)

Project description:

A fully-funded 4 year PhD studentship (Institute for Life Sciences studentship) for research at the interface between chemistry, molecular biology and microbiology at the University of Southampton is available. The project will pioneer a novel chemical strategy to control the formation and maturation of biofilm in the oral microbiome using small molecules.

Oral biofilm is implicated not only in caries but also in wider oral health and pathology. The formation and maturation of oral biofilm are considered to be affected by some key enzymes. We will attempt to control these enzymes using small molecules. This highly multidisciplinary project combines a wide variety of expertise including carbohydrate chemistry, enzymology, molecular biology, and microbiology to provide chemical tools to crack the code of oral biofilm’s impact on the oral health.

You will design, synthesise and test small molecules that can control the activity of key enzymes of oral biofilms. You will also express target enzymes to test synthesised small molecules and work on oral bacteria and the oral microbiome model for validation of our strategy. 

This interdisciplinary project will be performed in School of Chemistry in the first place, and as the project develops, you will need to spend some time in the School of Biological Sciences and the National Biofilms Innovation Centre (NBIC). Furthermore, this project will be conducted alongside a related research project of the NBIC (also under advertisement), and we expect a strong synergy between the two projects. A multidisciplinary supervisory team consist of Dr Seung Lee, chemical biologist, affiliated with School of Chemistry, Prof. Jeremy Webb, microbiologist and biofilm expert affiliated with School of Biological Sciences and the co-director of NBIC, and Prof. Paul Stoodley, expertise in the development of oral biofilm and microbiome models.

The studentship provides fees and stipends on a UKRI scale for four years and welcomes applicants from UK and EU. We particularly encourage motivated and ambitious applicants with background of chemistry who are interested in chemistry/biology interface.

Entry Requirements

A very good undergraduate degree (at least a UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent).

Closing date : 31 August 2024.

Applications will be considered in the order that they are received, the position will be considered filled when a suitable candidate has been identified.

Funding: The studentship provides fees and stipends on a UKRI scale for four years and welcomes applicants from UK and EU. We particularly encourage motivated and ambitious applicants with background of chemistry who are interested in chemistry/biology interface.

How To Apply

Apply online: Search for a Postgraduate Programme of Study (soton.ac.uk) . Select programme type (Research), 2024/25, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, next page select “PhD Chemistry (Full time)”. In Section 2 of the application form you should insert the name of the supervisor Dr Seung Lee.

Applications should include:

• Research Proposal
• Curriculum Vitae
• Two reference letters
• Degree Transcripts/Certificates to date

For further information please contact: [email protected]