PhD Studentship

An exciting opportunity to pursue a fully funded PhD studentship within the Host-Pathogen Interactions research group led by Prof Rachel McLoughlin(https://www.tcd.ie/Biochemistry/research/r_mcloughlin.php) at the School of Biochemistry and Immunology at Trinity College Dublin. The successful candidate will work on a Wellcome funded project investigating how the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus manipulates neutrophils to promote infection.

This is a great opportunity to pursue cutting edge immunology research in a dynamic and supportive research environment.

Scientific Background:Staphylococcus aureus is the leading cause of bacterial infection associated deaths in 135 countries and the primary cause of fatal bloodstream infection resulting in ~290,000 deaths per year. As a result there is an urgent need to develop novel therapeutic approaches to control S. aureus infection. One of the reasons this bacterium causes such deadly disease is because it is very good at manipulating and evading the host immune system.  Neutrophils are an important immune cell required to phagocytose and kill S. aureus, however the bacterium has evolved strategies not only to evade the killing by neutrophils, but incredibly, to actually survive inside these cells and use them as a means to spread around the body in a Trojan Horse mechanism.

Please see job description and application procedure below.