NERC RED-ALERT CDT: Water-based early warning systems for public and environmental health diagnostics - PhD via FindAPhD

University of Bath

Bath, UK 🇬🇧

About the Project

This project is one of a number that are in competition for funding from the Red-ALERT CDT for entry in September 2025.

Overview of the Research:

Clean freshwater is fundamental to the health of wildlife and humans. Rapid urbanisation is linked with an increased risk of exposure to hazardous chemical mixtures as well as disease causing pathogens. To strengthen environmental and public health protection and to enable rapid response to emergent threats, there is a need for robust Early Warning Systems that collate rich, spatiotemporal information on public and environmental health status and surveillance data, identify new threats and are able to facilitate rapid response from regulatory sectors with the aim of disease prevention or mitigation and health promotion.

New, comprehensive, analytical tools linking hazardous chemical and pathogen exposure with health status are needed to capture exposure-health outcome associations for informed, evidence based regulatory frameworks for public and environmental health protection. This studentship will develop new mass spectrometry-based approaches (supported by PCR and sequencing pipelines) for tracking hazardous chemicals (e.g. toxins) and pathogen prevalence and community response. Biomarker groups will include: exposure indicators (pathogens and toxins), markers of biological responses (inflammation, epigenetic, protein markers), intervention indicators (e.g. pharmaceuticals).

The student will (1) Develop new mass spectrometry methods for water fingerprinting in exposure-health outcome diagnostics. (2) Undertake spatiotemporal water fingerprinting in the Cam and Wellow catchment and contributing communities to test the hypothesis that community-wide exposure, environmental burden and health outcomes can be measured in water derived from this community (3) Undertake data triangulation across environmental, clinical and sociodemographic datasets to understand the catchment’s vulnerabilities for further exploration in the context of future One Health interventions.

The student will receive training in a range of modern analytical and bioanalytical techniques including state-of-the-art chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry techniques, PCR and sequencing. In addition, he/she will join an interdisciplinary team at the University of Bath and Bangor with critical research expertise in the area and excellent research infrastructure. Experience of academic/government/industrial research (e.g. potential secondment with UKHSA), interdisciplinary and international working and development of legislation and water, public health policy, will provide an exciting opportunity for further professional development.

Project Keywords: Hazardous chemicals, pathogen, disease, pollution, water quality, early warning, environmental sustainability

Industrial Partner:

The UK Health Security Agency are the industrial partner on this project.

Candidate Requirements:

Applicants should hold, or expect to receive, a First Class or good Upper Second-Class UK Honours degree (or the equivalent) in Chemistry (Analytical, Environmental, Pharmaceutical, Physical), Environmental Sciences, Biochemistry or Ecotoxicology or a related subject. A master’s level qualification would also be advantageous.

*Non-UK applicants must meet the programme’s English language requirement prior to a formal offer being made. 

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion:

We value a diverse research environment and aim to be an inclusive university, where difference is celebrated and respected. We welcome and encourage applications from under-represented groups.

If you have circumstances that you feel we should be aware of that have affected your educational attainment, then please feel free to tell us about it in your application form. The best way to do this is a short paragraph at the end of your personal statement.

Enquiries and Applications:

Formal applications should be submitted via the Red-ALERT CDT online application form prior to the closing date of this advert.


Funding Notes

Candidates may be considered for a NERC Red-ALERT studentship tenable for 3.5 years. Funding covers tuition fees, a stipend (ÂŁ19,237 p/a in 2024/5) and access to a training support budget.


POSITION TYPE

ORGANIZATION TYPE

EXPERIENCE-LEVEL

DEGREE REQUIRED

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