Project title: Optimal utility-based design of oncology clinical development programmes

Warwick supervisor: Prof. Nigel Stallard 

Industry supervisor: Dr Fabio Rigat, Janssen Pharmaceuticals 

Project summary:

In collaboration with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, this PhD project will address important questions in the optimal design of clinical development programmes in oncology. You will develop statistical modelling methods that describe the main sources of uncertainty in oncology clinical trials and formally incorporate stakeholder views, including clinical trial statistical properties and patient preferences, via multi-attribute utility functions. This will lead to strategies, including non-parametric Bayesian approaches, for optimal dynamic data-dependent updating of oncology clinical development programmes. The project gives a unique opportunity to embark on challenging biomedical statistics research in a pan academic-industry environment via the MRC iCASE studentship as part of the DTP in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research. The project would suit a student with a good undergraduate degree in statistics, mathematics or a related discipline.

  Project title: Breath analysis for the diagnosis and monitoring of respiratory tract infections

Warwick Supervisor: Prof. James Covington 

Industry supervisor: Dr Emma Brodrick, IMSPEX Diagnostics 

Project summary:

Respiratory conditions, including Covid-19, are a cause of major health concern worldwide. The current pandemic has focussed the need for rapid, accurate and point-of-care diagnostics to help manage and stratify patient care. Breath testing offer a means to fulfil this need. This project aims to further develop breath testing for the rapid diagnosis of respiratory infections, such as Covid-19, by measuring the chemical components, by mass spectrometry and artificial olfaction, in breath and relating these to the patient’s status.

Project title: Sensors for Biofilms and Bioburden in Wound Dressings

Warwick supervisors: Dr Jerome Charmet and Dr Meera Unnikrishnan 

Industry Supervisors: Dr Marcus Swann and Prof Steven Percival 5D Health Protection Group

Project Summary:

Wound dressings are used to speed up the wound healing process while preventing infections. Ideally, wounds should be allowed to heal undisturbed, however the status of the wound needs to be evaluated regularly, to check for infection and enable rapid intervention. Even though antimicrobial dressings are available, their use can be detrimental and may be slowing down wound healing. The project aims to solve these issues through the development of smart dressing that can detect infections in real-time and allow for better wound management.

During the project, you will develop biological models to recapitulate infected wounds and test a range of sensor technologies to detect infection. You will then develop a smart dressing prototype based on the most appropriate sensor technology (including read-out) that is most suited for the application, taking manufacturing and assembly constraints into consideration.