Body-on-a-chip: a novel approach to understanding antimicrobial resistance

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This PhD project will be at the heart of our efforts to develop an entirely novel, cutting-edge "body-on-a-chip" microfluidic-based organoid platform and to deploy it to study AMR and host/pathogen interactions in a human cell micro-environment. As UTI originates in the gut and from there ascends to the bladder and kidney, we will build on our expertise in human-cell platforms to link gut, bladder and kidney organoids into a seamless system to study the effects of niche on infection, biofilm formation and drug sensitivity. Pilot results suggest that bacteria are exquisitely sensitive to their surroundings, with the ability to flexibly modify their gene expression patterns to adapt to different niches and to evade antibiotics, even when they are "sensitive" according to standard diagnostic tests. Later in the project we expect to expand the reach by exploring wound infection in skin organoids. As a satisfying blend of basic and translational science, this project has massive scope for unveiling key biological mysteries as well as helping to test and perfect therapeutic solutions that can make a real difference to patients in the future. Techniques include tissue engineering, microfluidics, microfabrication, cell biology, high resolution fixed and live imaging, microbiology and genomics.