You will earn 6 research credits over 6 weeks, conducting a faculty-supervised, hands-on, directed study research project with results that will culminate in the preparation of a research paper. You will complete a minimum of 240 hours on research in and out of the laboratory.
Faculty mentors will work closely with you to direct your continued growth and knowledge development in the chosen research topic discipline.
Bacteria encounter a variety of stress conditions within the host environment, including nutrient limitation in intracellular niches (Fang et al., 2016), acid stress in the stomach (Sheikh et al., 2021), bile salt exposure, and reduced oxygen levels in the gastrointestinal tract (Paul, 2007). To survive these unfavourable conditions, they activate adaptive responses (Dawan et al., 2022) that enable them to adjust their physiology and metabolism. These adaptive mechanisms may, in turn, influence the development of antibiotic resistance and promote biofilm formation. This project aims to investigate how different stress conditions affect bacterial antibiotic resistance, biofilm formation, and gene expression.
Reference list:
Bandie, et al. (2021) ‘The combined effect of stressful factors (temperature and pH) on the expression of biofilm, stress, and virulence genes in Salmonella enterica ser. Enteritidis and Typhimurium’, Archives of Microbiology, 203, 4475-4484. The combined effect of stressful factors (temperature and pH) on the expression of biofilm, stress, and virulence genes in Salmonella enterica ser. Enteritidis and Typhimurium | Archives of Microbiology
Dawan, J., Ahn, J., (2022) ‘Bacterial Stress Responses as Potential Targets in Overcoming Antibiotic Resistance’. Microorganisms, 10, 1385. Bacterial Stress Responses as Potential Targets in Overcoming Antibiotic Resistance
Paul, E. (2007) ‘Stress and bacteria: microbial endocrinology’, Gut, 56, 1037–1038. http://doi.org/10.1136/gut.2006.117150
Sheikh, et al. (2021) ‘Insights into Emergence of Antibiotic Resistance in Acid-Adapted Enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli’. Antibiotics,10(5), 522. https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics10050522
Relevant Majors: Microbiology, Medical Microbiology, Biomedical Science
Project requirements: A background in microbiology and molecular biology is preferred.
Hormonal changes across the menstrual cycle can affect how women experience hunger, digestion, and metabolism. Caffeine is known to influence appetite and gut function, but its effects may differ depending on the menstrual phase.
The C.A.M.P study (Caffeine, appetite, and gut function: Variations across the female menstrual phases) explores how caffeine impacts appetite and gastrointestinal responses throughout the menstrual cycle. This study will focus on human female participants, aiming to enhance understanding of how hormonal fluctuations may influence caffeine’s effects on appetite and digestion after exercise.
Relevant Majors: Human physiology, Nutrition and Gastrointestinal Health
Project Requirements:This project will require the students to work in a human physiology Laboratory collecting data from human participants. The measurement will include generic anthropometric and physiological measurements. They will also need to handle and assist in collecting blood.
Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor (MIF) is a pleiotropic cytokine with critical roles in inflammation and a key mediator in many diseases including several types of cancers where preclinical studies have shown inhibition can prevent disease onset or progression. MIF has been shown to play a role in driving proliferation, angiogenesis and other hallmarks of cancer and it is being tested as a novel prognostic and therapeutic target in several clinical trials. The goal of this project is to assess MIF’s potential as a druggable target. Using a combination commercially available MIF inhibitors, monoclonal antibodies and RNAi we will test the effects inhibiting MIF function on cell survival and proliferation in selected cancer cell lines. We will also investigate how MIF influences expression of key genes involved in promoting hallmarks of cancer in these cells.
Techniques: Tissue culture, flow cytometry, mammalian cell transfection, nucleic acid isolation and purification, qRT-PCR and Western blot.
References:
Valdez CN, Sánchez-Zuno GA, Bucala R, Tran TT. Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor (MIF) and D-Dopachrome Tautomerase (DDT): Pathways to Tumorigenesis and Therapeutic Opportunities. Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Apr 29;25(9):4849. doi: 10.3390/ijms25094849.PMID:38732068;PMCID:PMC11084905https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38732068/
Youness RA, Elemam NM, Abdelhamid AM, Mohamed AH, Elsherbiny LM, Ramzy A, Assal RA. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) and the tumor ecosystem: a tale of inflammation, immune escape, and tumor growth. Front Immunol. 2025 Oct 13;16:1636839. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1636839. PMID: 41159021; PMCID: PMC12554771.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41159021/
Relevant Majors: Cancer Biology, Immunology, Molecular Biology
Project Requirements: Basic laboratory experience, pipetting, making solutions etc helpful but core techniques associated with the project will be taught to students during the summer term.
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common bacterial infections, affecting approximately 150 million people worldwide each year. They are caused by a diverse range of uropathogens that have evolved mechanisms to evade host immune responses and resist antibiotic treatment. These pathogens can invade the bladder urothelium and form intracellular bacterial communities (IBCs), which may lead to frequent recurrences.
Techniques: In this project, will culture a three-dimensional (3D) urothelial microtissue model that closely mimics the human bladder epithelium. Using this model, we will investigate how uropathogens adhere to and invade the bladder and how they trigger the host’s innate immune responses.
Relevant Majors: Biomedical, Biology, Cell Biology, Microbiology
Project Requirements: Basic lab skills, pipetting, aseptic techniques, tissue culture
Parasitic nematodes such as whipworm and hookworm infect over a billion people, but existing treatments have limitations and development of drug resistance is a concern. According to the WHO 2030 roadmap, development of new more effective medicines is a critical action required for elimination of these infectious diseases.
Techniques: In this project we will pursue target-based drug discovery for these parasites. Depending on the interests of the student, the project may involve target identification/validation based on genomic datasets, expression and purification of candidate targets, or setting up functional assays to screen compounds for activity against these targets. We use the model organism C. elegans as a tool taking advantage of powerful genetic (CRISPR editing etc) and imaging methods available in this system.
Relevant Majors: Biochemistry, Pharmacology, Biomedical Science, Bioinformatics, Biology.
This project uses recombinant protein expression, protein purification, AI-based protein structure prediction and pharmacological approaches to identify small molecule inhibitors of kinases from parasitic nematode that are the cause of the neglected tropical disease lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis. It is an early-stage drug discovery project and the student will be linked in with team members on our Open-source Nematode DrugBase project.
Relevant Majors: Biochemistry, Microbiology, Pharmacology, Biology
Our recent review of aging biomarkers (Perri et al., 2025) revealed a short list of validated biomarkers of age that the aging biology community should take forward for usage in human interventional research. There is limited research in how some of these peptide-based markers differ in human ageing. Thus, this project will assist in collection of samples from our London-based successful ageing cohorts before measuring differences in blood-borne ageing biomarkers using our validated benchtop techniques and then aid in communication of these results as appropriate. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39708300/
Relevant Majors: Physiology, Aging Biology
Project Requirements: Whilst human physiological testing, phlebotomy, or benchtop biochemistry (especially ELISA) skills are welcomed, these skills can be taught to the appropriate candidates. Relevant vaccines for handling human blood.
This project will use a range of techniques to investigate the role of the voltage-gated potassium channel Kv1.5, in the search for novel therapeutics of atrial fibrillation. We will utilise in vitro techniques such as cell culture, ELISA, qPCR, a range of molecular biology such as site directed mutagenesis, and the prospective student will have a chance to experience some whole-cell patch clamp electrophysiology. The prospective students will also be able to learn and utilise in silico computational docking.
Relevant Majors: Pharmacology, Physiology
Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic metabolic disorder characterized by elevated blood sugar levels (Hyperglycaemia), presenting significant public health challenges including coronary heart disease, retinopathy, neuropathy and end-stage renal disease. Aged T2DM patients face a greater risk of reduced mobility and sarcopenia, characterized by muscle loss, strength and function due to factors such as insulin resistance, hyperglycaemia and oxidative stress1. Hyperglycaemia further negatively affects satellite cell proliferation and self-renewal, impairing the muscle’s ability to regenerate after injury2. Vasoactive peptides such as Angiotensin II (Ang II) by binding to angiotensin type I receptors and Endothelin-1 (ETH-1) by binding to ETH-type A or B receptors induce activation of NADPH oxidases (NOXs), the main ROS generators, leading to increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and oxidative stress signalling in vascular cells including vascular smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells3,4. Recent research has shown that vasoactive peptides (Ang II and ETH-1) – induced ROS play a role in the pathophysiology of T2DM by regulating a variety of vascular and renal mesangial cellular functions (proliferation/apoptosis/migration, vasoconstriction/vasorelaxation)5, 6. While it is well established that hyperglycaemia and vasoactive agents (such as ETH-1 and Ang II) can activate REDOX signalling implicated in the pathophysiology of T2DM, the molecular mechanisms of which hyperglycaemia induces ROS generation in Ang II or ETH-1 induced REDOX signalling in undifferentiated and differentiated Skeletal muscle myotubes grown under diabetic-mimicking conditions are not clearly understood.
Techniques: Skeletal muscle myoblast cell lines will be grown in different concentrations of glucose and differentiated into myotubes. Undifferentiated skeletal muscle myoblasts and differentiated myotubes grown under diabetic-mimic conditions will be stimulated with vasoactive peptides such as Endothelin-1 and Angiotensin-II and treated with or without pharmacological inhibitors of NOXs, the main generators of ROS. The effects of vasoactive peptides and NOX pharmacological inhibitors in skeletal muscle myoblasts and myotubes upon i. Skeletal muscle differentiation assessed by immunofluorescence of skeletal muscle myotube differentiation markers (e.g. Myogenic Differentiation-1: MYOD and Myogenin: MYOG), ii. ROS generation by ROS assays (e.g. Amplex Red and MitoSox) and iii. REDOX generation by assessing the ratio of the reduced form of Glutathione (GSH) and oxidised form of Glutathione disulfide will be examined.
References: 1.Chen et al. 2023, Diabetes Metab Syndr Obes, 30 (16): 1541-1554 , 2. Furuichi et al. 2021, Front Cell Dev Biol, 1(9):640399, 3. Anagnostopoulou et al. 2020, Sc Rep,10:17818; 4. Alves-Lopes et al. 2020, Hypertension, 75(1):139; 5. Montezano et al. J Am Heart Assoc. 7(12): e009388, 6. Empitu et al. 2025, J Nephrol, 38(1): 49-60.
Relevant Majors: Biology, Chemistry, Biomedical Sciences, Biotechnology, Health Sciences, Genetics, Molecular Biology
Project Requirements: Pipetting, Molecular Biology techniques.
Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium is a major foodborne pathogen responsible for significant public health and economic impacts worldwide. A key factor contributing to its persistence in food processing environments is its ability to form biofilms, structured bacterial communities attached to surfaces and encased in a self-produced matrix. These biofilms enhance bacterial resistance to cleaning and disinfection, facilitating long-term survival and cross-contamination in food production settings.
This project aims to investigate how different surface materials, including glass, stainless steel, polystyrene, and common food-contact surfaces, affect bacterial attachment and biofilm formation by Salmonella Typhimurium. The study will further explore gene expression patterns of biofilm-associated genes using PCR and gene sequencing to determine how surface type influences bacterial regulatory pathways involved in biofilm development. The Summer School researcher will work closely with the doctoral researcher on a project investigating the genes responsible for biofilm formation in Salmonella, using gene knockout techniques to study their functional roles.
Techniques: Students will gain hands-on experience with a range of microbiological and molecular biology techniques, including:
References:
Counihan KL, Tilman S, Uknalis J, Mukhopadhyay S, Niemira BA, Bermudez-Aguirre D.(2025) Attachment and Biofilm Formation of Eight Different Salmonella Serotypes on Three Food-Contact Surfaces at Different Temperatures. Microorganisms, 21;13(7):1446. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms13071446.PMID: 40731956
Relevant Majors: Microbiology, Infection Biology, Food Safety, or Molecular Genetics.
Focal cortical dysplasia is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by abnormal cortical development, and it is one of the most common causes of pharmacoresistant epilepsy in children and adults. The project aims to identify key genes and proteins underlying structural changes in focal cortical dysplasia using advanced spatial transcriptomics, multiplex immunohistochemistry, and automated image analysis, with the goal of establishing these markers as biomarkers for early diagnosis, classification, and the development of novel therapeutic targets for patients with epilepsy.
Techniques: This is a hybrid project that integrates wet-lab techniques, including histological staining and multiplex immunohistochemistry on human brain tissue from epilepsy patients, digital whole-slide scanning, and automated image analysis and bioinformatics analysis of data derived from spatial transcriptomics.
The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 and the resulting pandemic has highlighted the need for effective tools and physiologically relevant methods for assessing viral infectivity and potential antiviral drug candidates that are limited to date. The need for therapeutics to treat COVID-19 remains crucial as vaccine efficacy can be compromised by emergence of new viral variants that can exhibit immune escape mutations which may reduce the binding affinity of existing vaccine induce antibodies, leading to waning immunity and requirement for booster vaccinations.
Techniques: In this project, novel antivirals will be screened at the air/liquid interface (ALI) of the human lung 3D culture model, consisting of upper and lower human lung epithelial cells (ACE-2+ and TMPRSS2+) seeded on the apical side of a transwell and endothelial cells seeded on the basal side, mimicking pulmonary microcapillary structures. Low hazard (BSL-2) SARS-CoV-2 lentiviral pseudotype virus, expressing full-length trimeric SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, including variants of concern will be used to infect airway cells and drug inhibitory effects will be ascertained and compared with in silico molecular docking analysis.
Relevant Majors: Virology, Microbiology, Molecular Biology and Drug Therapeutics
There is strong evidence to suggest that high salt intake is related to increased blood pressure and increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. In addition, scientific literature has provided some evidence of the relationship between increased salt consumption and a number of other health problems such as stomach cancer, kidney stones or even obesity. Salt reduction has been regarded as one of the most cost-effective strategies to improve public health. The World Health Organization has set a target of 5 g per day of salt intake for adults (WHO, 2012), despite the fact that body requirements for sodium are much less. Yet, the intake of salt in most countries is above the WHO guidelines (approximately double the recommendations, on average). According to “The WHO Global NCD Action Plan 2013-2020”, a 30% relative reduction in the mean population intake of salt/sodium has been set as a global target by 2025. Among the priority actions that need to be taken is to implement public campaigns and social marketing initiatives in order to raise consumer awareness of the need to reduce salt intake. However, any campaign needs to be based on scientific evidence from surveys that have explored the knowledge, beliefs and behaviour of consumers regarding salt.
Relevant Majors: Public Health & Nutrition
This project focuses on the analysis of cell surface glycoconjugates in the protozoan parasites Trichomonas vaginalis and Trichomonas foetus using fluorescently labelled lectins. Glycoconjugates play key roles in host–parasite interactions, including adhesion, immune modulation, and pathogen survival, yet their specific structural features in these organisms remain incompletely defined. A panel of lectins with known sugar specificities will be used to map carbohydrate motifs on the parasite surface and to compare patterns between species. The six-week project will include culturing of parasite isolates, lectin-binding assays, and fluorescence microscopy to visualize surface labelling. Image analysis will be performed to assess differences in lectin binding intensity and localisation. In addition, in silico docking simulations will be used to explore potential interactions between identified glycoconjugates and candidate inhibitory molecules. Improved understanding of surface glycan architecture may highlight key molecular features involved in host colonisation, supporting the identification of novel therapeutic targets or strategies to disrupt parasite attachment and infection.
Relevant Majors: Parasitology/Microbiology, Cell Biology, Glycobiology, Bioinformatics
Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy is a transformative immunotherapeutic strategy in which T lymphocytes are genetically engineered to express a synthetic receptor that can recognize and eliminate cancer cells. Studying CAR-T cell activation mechanisms in primary T cells can be technically difficult and resource-intensive. Jurkat cells, a human T cell leukemia cell line, provide a convenient and reproducible model to mimic T cell signaling events. These cells naturally express key components of the T cell signalling and activation including T cell receptor (TCR) and CD3, making them suitable for investigating intracellular activation pathways triggered by CAR engagement. By using Jurkat cells, CAR-like signaling can be modeled in a controlled environment. This system enables testing hypotheses about antigen density thresholds required for activation as well as assesses activation kinetics. Thus, Jurkat-based models serve as a versatile and cost-effective platform that may guide the development and optimization of next-generation CAR-T therapies.
Relevant Majors: Haematology, Immunology, Immunotherapy