Six new Studentships for Institute of Pharmaceutical Science

13 October 2020

Six new Studentships for Institute of Pharmaceutical Science

The School of Cancer & Pharmaceutical Science are pleased to announce that there are six new studentships within the Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

The School of Cancer & Pharmaceutical Science are pleased to announce that there are six new studentships within the Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (IPS) that students can now begin applying for.

IPS has received six, fully funded, four-year BBSRC iCASE studentships from the London Interdisciplinary Doctoral Programme (LIDo) for a total inward investment of around £780,000. Topics range from ‘Multi-mode imaging to underpin a drug development pipeline for a new, peptide class of antibiotics’ to ‘Investigating distinct platelet populations and their function in immunopathology and hemostasis associated with sepsis'.

The Principal Investigators and their respective projects are as follows:

Dr James Mason	Multi-mode imaging to underpin a drug development pipeline for a new, peptide class of antibiotics
Professor Ben Forbes	Biologically-informed development of autologous platelet-based wound healing gels
Dr Miraz Rahman	Bisbiguanide analogues as probes for assessing membrane barrier function in multidrug resistant gram-negative bacteria
Dr Richard Amison	Investigating distinct platelet populations and their function in immunopathology and hemostasis associated with sepsis
Dr Stuart Jones	Understanding how mild skin hyperthermia influences vitamin d skin absorption and metabolism during nutritional supplementation
Dr Simon Pitchford	Creation of modified heparins to probe platelet-endothelial glycocalyx interactions necessary for inflammation

I am delighted to be awarded a LIDO iCASE BBSRC PhD Studentship with Public Health England. As a new Principal Investigator within the Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, I am in the process of establishing my own research group with a particular focus on the exciting role that platelets play in the host immune response to infections. It is an honour to have been awarded this LIDO PhD Studentship as this scheme is renowned in its ability to attract the highest calibre of PhD candidates. This LIDO PhD studentship will provide the student with the opportunity to develop a wide range of scientific techniques in conjunction with Public Health England and help them shape an exciting career as an independent scientist. I am looking forward to getting started!
Dr Richard Amison, Lecturer in Pharmacology, School of Cancer & Pharmaceutical Sciences

I am thrilled to be awarded another LIDO BBSRC PhD studentship. This scheme attracts high quality PhD candidates, it provides an opportunity to work with industry partners and enables my team to generate research with real impact. Science is a global enterprise and to generate future leaders in this international arena it is essential that future PhD students are equipped with a wide range of skills. The LIDO PhD studentships provide the opportunity to expose the students to a host of scientific techniques, to integrate science with numerical approaches and integrate these new researchers into a flourishing LIDO network of past and current students, which helps develop independence. I can’t wait for this new project to start!
Dr Stuart Jones, Reader in Pharmaceutics, School of Cancer & Pharmaceutical Sciences

There are four different industry partners linked to these studentships: Public Health England (PHE), Curapel, Biotherapy Services, and NIBSC. This is a remarkable achievement for IPS and for the School and this success also reflects well on the Faculty as a whole.

Students should be encouraged to apply for these studentships as they will receive established BBSRC-remit-related training which will help to enhance a range of skills and employability prospects. IPS has traditionally been very successful on securing competitive funding for industrial case studentships, showcasing their strong collaborative links with the industry.

The LIDo iCASE studentship provided me with amazing industry networks that have led to significant scientific achievements, including a podium presentation at the Europe’s premier Inhalation Science conference, Drug Delivery to the Lungs 2019. It helped me with skills I need for what I hope will be a successful career in the pharmaceutical industry. I am currently a Senior Scientist at AstraZeneca, and I look forward to applying the knowledge and techniques I acquired during my doctoral research to solving real-world problems.
Precious Akhuemokhan, Former LIDo student