We are seeking a highly motivated and enthusiastic PhD student to join an interdisciplinary project focused on developing leprosy vaccines. 

Leprosy is a chronic, neglected, and stigmatised disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae or Mycobacterium lepromatosis. It leads to skin lesions and permanent peripheral nerve damage, resulting in loss of sensation, paralysis, and deformities that can make everyday tasks onerous. The disease is endemic in regions of the Americas, Africa, and Southeast Asia, with over 200,000 new cases reported worldwide each year.

In 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine for leprosy prevention in healthy neonates at birth. However, the BCG vaccine has variable efficacy in preventing leprosy, ranging from 18% to 90%, and its protective effects decline significantly within 10 years, whereas the leprosy incubation period can extend up to 20 years. The WHO Global Leprosy Strategy 2021–2030 boldly aims “towards zero leprosy,” yet we are far from achieving this goal. Therefore, there is an urgent need for improved leprosy vaccines to attain the overarching global objective of eradicating leprosy.

This project will compare the BCG vaccine with vaccine candidates and investigate mycobacterial metabolism and in vitro infection systems. It will integrate molecular biology, microbiology, biochemistry, and immunology approaches to address specific aims, including

• can vaccine candidates elicit desirable immunological antigenicity without cytotoxicity or neurotoxicity? 
• can M. leprae immunologically reactive proteins enhance vaccine candidates and prevent infection? 

The project also involves collaboration with Dr Hui-Rong Jiang, who specialises in neuroimmunology, and Dr Carmen Huesa, who specialises in cellular biomechanics. 

Further information

Pigments of life lab website