Optimising testing and control strategies in the early stages of infectious disease outbreaks

Description

Please ensure you include the project title and reference number MPPR011 when applying.

How to apply for a PhD | Postgraduate research | University of Liverpool

We want all our staff and Students to feel that Liverpool is an inclusive and welcoming environment that actively celebrates and encourages diversity. We are committed to working with students to make all reasonable project adaptations including supporting those with caring responsibilities, disabilities or other personal circumstances. For example, if you have a disability you may be entitled to a Disabled Students Allowance on top of your studentship to help cover the costs of any additional support that a person studying for a doctorate might need as a result.

In the early stages of a major disease outbreak, the availability of suitable diagnostic tests is often limited, however, timely interventions are critical for controlling the spread of disease. In this PhD, you will develop mechanistic and statistical models to investigate the effectiveness of various diagnostic test deployment strategies for emerging and zoonotic diseases which are at risk of causing large outbreaks, such as respiratory viruses (Influenza, SARS-CoV-2, Respiratory syncytial virus), vector-borne diseases (Dengue, Tick-borne encephalitis) or viral haemorrhagic fevers (Nipah, Lassa fever and Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever). You will investigate the effectiveness of targeting use of tests in different settings, for example in areas of high versus low transmission, or in hospitals versus the community. The optimum strategy for diagnostic test deployment will vary depending on prevalence of disease, the sensitivity and specificity of the tests and the time it takes to receive and act on results. In addition, variation between pathogens, for example, in their mode of transmission, reproduction number and incubation period, will influence which strategy is the most effective in controlling the impact of the outbreak. These insights will inform stockpiling strategies of medical countermeasures for pandemic preparedness and in the event of a major outbreak, can be used and adapted to help inform decision making.

You will be part of a supportive and stimulating research environment at the University of Liverpool, with Dr Emily Nixon as your primary supervisor, with additional supervision from Professor Christl Donnelly (Department of Statistics, University of Oxford), Dr Emily Adams (Pandemic Sciences Institute, University of Oxford) and Dr Richard Vipond (UK Health Security Agency). This studentship will be for a maximum of 3.5 years duration starting in October 2025; it includes fees at the UK/home rate, stipend, and research-related travel.

Applicants must hold, in a relevant STEM subject, either a first-class honours degree, a distinction at master level, or equivalent achievements. Prospective applicants are encouraged to contact the primary supervisor, Dr Emily Nixon, emily.nixon@liverpool.ac.uk prior to preparation of an application to discuss the fit of the project with your background and qualifications.

This is an exciting opportunity to work with a world leading team delivering research that is relevant to public health in the UK. This PhD opportunity is funded by the National Institute for Health and Social Care Research (NIHR) Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections (EZI). The successful candidate will therefore join the NIHR HPRU-EZI.

NIHR is the UK's largest funder of health and care research and provides the people, facilities and technology that enables research to thrive.

NIHR HPRUs undertake high quality research that enhances the ability of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to protect the public’s health and minimise the health impact of emergencies. There are 13 HPRUs across England.

The HPRU-EZI is a partnership between the University of Liverpool, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), University of Oxford, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and UKHSA, in collaboration with University of Glasgow. HPRU-EZI has been running since 2014, and supports and strengthens UKHSA in its role protecting England from emerging infections and zoonoses (i.e. those which spread from animals to humans). HPRU-EZI has played significant roles in the past in the UK response to Ebola, Zika, COVID-19 and mpox. We will continue to address the major emerging threats; these are transmitted by mosquitoes and ticks (e.g. dengue and Lyme), the respiratory route (e.g. COVID-19 and influenza), or directly through contact (e.g. Lassa fever).

For further details please see our brochure and our website: http://hpruezi.nihr.ac.uk/media/artlflhc/hpru-ezi-brochure.pdf http://hpruezi.nihr.ac.uk/

Overarching aims:

• Conduct the highest quality research to help UKHSA protect us from emerging infections.
• Engage and involve patients and the public, especially marginalised communities, to address health inequalities.
• Train the next generation of researchers to address emerging infections.
• Collaborate widely to ensure the maximum value and highest impact of our work, saving lives and livelihoods

We will achieve our objectives through five research themes:

• Predict and Prevent
• Clinical Characterisation
• Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions
• Medical Countermeasures
• Data, Modelling and Artificial Intelligence

The impact of our work will be to significantly increase the UKHSA's ability to tackle current and future threats, thus informing policy, enhancing decision making, strengthening services and facilitating responses.

Academic Career Development Program

All HPRU-funded PhD students are part of the NIHR academy, which gives access to a wide range of excellent career development opportunities (https://www.nihr.ac.uk/career-development/nihr-academy). The HPRU-EZI runs a bespoke academic career development program, which HPRU PhD students are expected to engage in. This program comprises a variety of training, development and mentorship opportunities beyond the individual research group in which the PhD student is based. All HPRU students will have co-supervision from UKHSA and at least one higher education institution. Attendance at the career development events is covered by HPRU career development funding and does not come from the individual PhD project funds. Attendance at these events is expected of HPRU PhD students.

Patient and Public Involvement, Engagement, and Participation (PPIEP) will be an integral element of this PhD project. The project will have an allocated PPIEP budget. The PhD student will be expected to develop and lead PPIEP activities throughout the PhD timeline, and will be supported by the PPIEP leads and public contributors on the PPIEP working group. More information on this area can be found at: https://www.nihr.ac.uk/ppi-patient-and-public-involvement-resources-applicants-nihr-research-programmes

People from diverse backgrounds have historically been under-represented in the health and social care research talent pipeline. We are committed to addressing under-representation in research training awards and encourage applications from diverse groups. Dedicated mentoring can be arranged with a focus on supporting people from underrepresented groups under the career development programme (identifying mentors, career progression support etc. outside of thesis supervision).

Supervisors: