Infections, Immunology, Virology and Parasitology (Research)

Our Infections, Immunology, Virology and Parasitology grouping is made up of the following available PhD and MRes courses:

• Immunology

• Virology

• Parasitology

• Microbiology

We are ranked 8th in the UK for research power (2014). The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is the system used by UK higher education funding bodies to assess research quality in universities.

• Life sciences ranked 9th in the UK for research power

• More than 97% of research at Nottingham is recognised internationally

• More than 80% of our research is ranked in the highest categories as world-leading or internationally excellent

• 16 of our 29 subject areas feature in the UK top 10 by research power

The MRes/PhD titles you can choose from in this field are:

Immunology

Some of the research areas in Immunology that are explored in the school include:

• Signal transduction in myeloid cells

• Flow cytometry

• Lung Inflammation and disease biomarkers

• Immune instructive materials

• Inflammation

• Myeloid cell biology

• Infectious diseases

• Immune dysfuncnction

• Biomarkers of immunological diseases

Virology

The Virus Research Group investigates the pathology, natural history and molecular biology of persistent and acute viral infections.

We share close links with clinical virologists at the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and are part of the Nottingham Digestive Diseases Centre Biomedical Research Unit, which translates laboratory research findings directly into the clinical research environment. This research programme is currently developing novel treatments for viral hepatitis and emerging viruses.

We are part of the OneVirology network that unites human and animal virologists across campus.

We have access to facilities to handle human pathogens up to containment level 3.

Current research in the school includes:

• The molecular biology of virus replication

• Understanding virus-host interactions at the molecular level

• Mechanisms and molecular biology of virus entry

• Understanding the innate immune response to viral infection

• Understanding the role of humoral immunity in preventing virus infection

• Developing novel tissue engineering models of viral pathogenesis

• Pathology, natural history and treatment of persistent viral infections

• Clinical virology of acute and persistent viral infections

• Developing novel anti-viral interventions

Within these areas, we have particular interest and expertise in:

• Coronaviruses

• Hepatitis C virus

• Human immunodeficiency virus

• Zoonotic viral infections

• Emerging human viruses

• Animal viruses, in collaboration with members in the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science

Parasitology

We work on understanding the biology of the major parasites of both humans and animals.

Of particular interest is gaining an understanding of immunity and the contribution of genetics to host susceptibility and parasite immune evasion strategies. These core interests underpin the search for novel immunotherapies for the major tropical diseases including:

• gastrointestinal nematodes

• filariasis

• malaria

• trypanosomiasis

• schistosomiasis.

Microbiology

In the microbiology research group we are researching novel strategies to fight against infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance. We are doing this by understanding the molecular mechanisms used by microbes to cause disease and how the host immunity works to defence the host against them.

We are working on a range of organisms with high relevance in the clinic. Some of our areas of interest are:

• Bacterial signalling including quorum sensing

• Effector proteins

• Virulence

• Biofilms

• Predatory bacteria that eat pathogens and the discovery of novel anti-infective agents