About the Project
We are looking for a doctoral student to investigate the immune mechanisms that determine protection against Staphylococcus aureus infection using a pioneering Controlled Human Infection Model (CHIM). The successful candidate will work across the Department of Infectious Disease and the Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction at Imperial College London, under the supervision of Dr Dinesh Aggarwal, Professor Shiranee Sriskandan, Dr Malick Gibani and Dr Yan Liu.
About the project
Staphylococcus aureus is a leading human pathogen causing significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. A bottleneck in developing effective vaccines and monoclonal antibodies against S. aureus is the lack of defined human correlates of protection and the poor generalisability of animal models. Because most clinical research relies on patients who already have established, severe infections, the early immune events that dictate whether an exposure resolves or progresses to invasive disease remain poorly understood.
This project overcomes these limitations by utilising samples from a pioneering Controlled Human Infection Model (CHIM). By tracking a fully characterised challenge strain from the exact moment of inoculation, this project offers an unprecedented, high-resolution view of human immune kinetics, cellular trafficking, and immune evasion in vivo.
The aim of the project is to map the local and systemic immune response during infection, combining clinical phenotyping with cutting-edge high-dimensional cellular and humoral immunology.
This project offers an exciting opportunity to explore human host-pathogen interactions and translational immunology. The student will initially validate and optimise their analytical workflow using clinical samples from naturally acquired S. aureus infection cohorts, before applying these platforms to the CHIM study. Using a combination of high-parameter cellular immunophenotyping, humoral profiling, and functional bactericidal assays, the student will map local and systemic immune dynamics across the course of infection. Ultimately, these high-dimensional datasets will be integrated using computational approaches to define translational correlates of protection against S. aureus, directly informing future vaccine and therapeutic design.
The successful candidate will be registered with the Department of Infectious Disease and the Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction at Imperial College London, one of the UK's top research Universities. Research in the department spans both viral and bacterial pathogens, exploring fundamental biology as well as developing vaccines, antibodies and therapeutics.
Dr Dinesh Aggarwal’s, Professor Shiranee Sriskandan’s, and Dr Malick Gibani’s research groups are based in the Department of Infectious Disease at the Hammersmith and South Kensington campuses of Imperial. Dr Yan Liu’s group is based in Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction on the Hammersmith campus of Imperial.
About you
As a candidate you will be a motivated individual, wanting to uncover fundamental mechanisms of human immunology and host-pathogen interactions to improve patient outcomes and guide vaccine design. You will have a keen interest in undertaking research in the fields of cellular immunology, serology, and clinical translational science.
Applicants must hold (or obtain by August 2026) a first or upper-second-class honours degree or equivalent in Immunology, Biomedical Sciences, Life Sciences, or a related discipline. A Master’s degree in immunology, translational medicine, infection biology, or equivalent research experience, is desirable. Prior laboratory experience with flow cytometry, immunoassays (ELISA/Luminex), cell culture, or the handling and processing of human blood/tissue samples (e.g., PBMC isolation) is desirable but not essential. Applicants must also meet Imperial College’s English language requirements.
Please note, this studentship is only available to Home students.
Responsibilities
- To undertake the research projects in line with the project aims.
- To communicate effectively, orally and through written media, undertake presentations at scientific meetings and maintain excellent records.
- To interact regularly and effectively with your supervisors and interact appropriately and effectively with other staff/collaborators.
- To meet the expectations of the study for a PhD by the awarding body (university).
How to apply
Further information can be found on the Department of Infectious Disease's PhD Funding page. To apply, applicants should submit the following to Dr Dinesh Aggarwal (d.aggarwal@imperial.ac.uk):
- CV
- Cover letter (maximum two pages)
- Full contact details of two referees
The deadline is Friday, 7 August 2026.
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