Cost Effective Delivery Strategies for the Treatment of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis

Supervisor:          Dr Majella Lane/Professor Jonathan Hadgraft (SoP)

Co-Supervisor:    Professor Simon Croft (LSHTM)

The leishmaniasis are a disease complex caused by 17 species of the parasitic protozoan genus Leishmania.  The parasite is transmitted by the bite of an infected sandfly and disease is either cutaneous or visceral, depending on parasite species and other factors.  For many years, the public health impact of the leishmaniasis has been grossly underestimated mainly due to lack of awareness of its serious impact on health.  Currently the leishmaniasis, prevalent in four continents are considered to be endemic in 88 countries, 72 of which are developing countries.

In this project we develop new medicines and topical formulations for the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis.  We will evaluate the ability of these medicines to permeate the skin effectively and we will develop novel models of cutaneous disease for evaluation.  The most promising formulations my be progressed to clinical trials.

Applications are invited for a Bloomsbury Colleges funded PhD Studentship to be jointly supervised between the School of Pharmacy (SoP) and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).

Applications are welcome from students with a good first degree (minimum 2:1 classification or equivalent) in pharmacy, microbiology, chemistry, biochemistry or any related subjects in the pharmaceutical sciences.

Key References

1.  Garnier, T., Croft, S. Curr Opin Investig Drugs. 2002 3:538-44.
2.  Lopez-Jaramillo, P., Ruano, C., Rivera, J., Teran, E., Salazar-Irigoyen, R., Esplugues, J., Moncada, S. The Lancet. 1998 351:1 175-76
3.  Miller, M.R., Megson, I. L. Br. J. Pharmacol. 2007 151:305-321
4.  Hadgraft, J. Int. J. Pharm. 2001 224:1-18.
5.  Hadgraft, J. Eur. J. Pharm. Biopharm. 2004 58:291-299.
6.  Garnier, T., Mantyla, A., Jarvinen, T., Lawrence, J., Brown, M., Croft, S. (2007) J. Antimicrob. Chemother. 60:802-810.

Further details about the project may be obtained from:

Supervisor:          Dr Majella Lane/Professor Jonathan Hadgraft
http://www.pharmacy.ac.uk/jonathan_hadgraft.html

Co-Supervisor:      Professor Simon Croft
http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/people/croft.simon

Further information about PhDs at School of Pharmacy is available from:

http://www.pharmacy.ac.uk/1565.html

Application forms and details about how to apply are available from:

http://www.pharmacy.ac.uk?apply_msc100.html
Mrs Margaret Stone
Registry
School of Pharmacy
University of London
29-39 Brunswick Square
London
WC1N 1AX
Tel:  00 44 (0) 207 753 5821

Additional Information

Please include Academic Transcripts, copy of Degree Certificate, CV, Two sealed letters of reference, One passport photo.

Closing date for applications is: 30 June 2010