iCASE Studentships 2025
For iCASE studentships, students apply for a specific project.
Projects have been designed by supervisors from Warwick with an industry partner. Students spend a minimum of three months based with their industry partner.
Delivery of live biotherapeutics for restoration of women’s reproductive health
Dr. Alexiane Decout (Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick)
Professor Siobhan Quenby (University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire)
Professor Andrew Lewis (Calla Lily Clinical Care Ltd).
The vaginal microbiota plays a key role in promoting women’s reproductive health. Disruption of this microbiota is associated with inflammation and reproductive diseases, such as vaginal infections and pregnancy complications. However, it is unknown how a healthy vaginal microbiota protects against inflammation. Current therapeutic interventions are unfortunately largely ineffective. The aim of this PhD project is to understand the mechanisms underlying the activation of the pro-inflammatory signalling pathways in the vagina and, secondly, to develop a system that allows the delivery of live-biotherapeutics based on the Callavid® technology to restore a healthy vaginal microbiota and decrease local inflammation. To achieve this the student will integrate microbiology, bioengineering and 3D epithelial cell culture systems.
Impact of viral infection and vaccination on inflammatory bowel disease patients
Dr Craig Thompson (Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, UK)
Dr Daniel Spencer (Ludger Ltd)
Dr Serre Yu Wong (Mount Sinai, USA)
Professor Jack Satsangi (University of Oxford)
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is characterised by chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. The incidence of IBD continues to rise in the UK and USA and is rapidly emerging in South Asia, East Asia, and the Middle East. IBD has a multifactorial aetiology in that it is thought to originate from complex interactions between genetic and environmental factors such as host-microbe interactions. Curative therapies are not available and immunomodulators and biologics targeted at suppressing and modulating the immune response are used commonly in the long-term managementof IBD. The aims of the project are (1) to define a molecular signature associated with IBD patients experiencing active disease or remission, (2) to determine whether viral infection or vaccination alters this molecular signature and, finally, (3) to determine if this signature impacts immune responses to viral infection or vaccination.
Development of a multi-modal computational pathology atlas for cancer
Dr. Fayyaz Minhas (Department of Computer Science, University of Warwick)
Professor Nasir Rajpoot (Department of Computer Science, University of Warwick)
Dr. Dang Vu (Histofy Ltd)
This collaborative PhD project aims to develop cutting-edge machine learning tools for the creation of a digital atlas to assist pathologists in diagnosis, prognosis and prediction of patient outcomes for diseases such as cancer, with the goal of improving patient outcomes. To achieve this the student will integrate advanced computing methodologies from the Tissue Image Analytics (TIA) Centre(University of Warwick) and expertise from Histofy Ltd in productization and clinical deployment with the ultimate aim of developing machine learning solutions with real-world clinical application in cancer diagnosis. This project would be suitable for a student with an undergraduate degree in computer science, bioinformatics, statistics or mathematics, with some experience of classical machine learning and deep learning approaches and a desire to apply these skills to important health problems.
Innovative statistical methods for dose-finding in clinical drug development
Professor Nigel Stallard (Clinical Trials Unit, University of Warwick)
Dr. Cornelia Ursula Kunz (Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Germany)
Dose-finding clinical trials aim to establish a drug dose that optimizes the balance between efficacy and potential side effects. In some cases, a drug can be used for related diseases, for example Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative Colitis, when the drug is anticipated to have an identical mode ofaction. In such cases, it is currently recommended for dose-finding trials to be conducted separately for each indication. This PhD project will involve the development of novel statistical approaches to improve dose-finding by incorporating data from different clinical studies. Requiring a combination of theoretical and computational statistical methods, the project would suit a student with a good statistics-related degree and enthusiasm to apply this to a challenging applied biostatistical health problem.
Key Facts
Four-year MSc + PhD fully funded programme
Contact: Tom Hodgekins
Email: mrcdtp at warwick dot ac dot uk