| Title | Development of a light treatment device for cutaneous leishmaniasis |
|---|---|
| Supervisors | not found cdes10 Maclean |
| Research Area | Drug discovery, formulation and delivery, Health and Well-being |
| Description | Leishmaniasis is a serious health threat. We have preliminary data to show that light can have anti-leishmanial activity and the aim of this project is to design a medicinal device that can be used to treat cutaneous leishmaniasis. A student would develop a medicinal device as a prototype for treatment of CL in this project. It would have to cope with skin surfaces with different topographies and have a capacity to be charged using solar power. The device would then be tested for efficacy against the intra-macrophage amastigote stage using cells infected with luciferase-expressing L. major or L. mexicana, two species that cause CL in humans. This will allow the effect of light treatment on parasite survival to be assessed using IVIS imaging. The device will also be tested for its ability to inhibit lesion growth in a murine model of cutaneous leishmaniasis. The student on this project would be trained in a number of techniques including culture of parasites, use of IVIS imaging equipment, in vivo animal experiments, assessment of parasite burdens, analysis and presentation of data. Dr K. C. Carter will supervise Leishmania studies and has the ethical approval required for experiments. Dr M. Maclean will provide expertise on phototherapy, and Professor Gourlay will supervise development of the medicinal device. The ultimate aim of this project is to develop a medicinal device that could be used to treat CL. This would have to be cheap to manufacture and can be used without requiring an external power source. The device is aimed at individuals in CL endemic areas, and if effective it would improve their quality of life as medicines in many endemic areas are expensive, difficult to assess and often cause adverse effects in the patient. Therefore, development of a novel treatment would be very beneficial. |
| Techniques Used | Tissue culture, parasite maintenance IVIS imaging, light treatment and medical device design |
| References | 1. Sundar S, Singh A. (2016) Recent developments and future prospects in the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis. Ther Adv Infect Dis. 3:98-109. 2. Singh OP, Singh B, Chakravarty J, Sundar S. (2016) Current challenges in treatment options for visceral leishmaniasis in India: a public health perspective. Infect Dis Poverty. 5:19. 3. Maclean M, Anderson JG, MacGregor SJ, White T, Atreya CD. (2016) A New Proof of Concept in Bacterial Reduction: Antimicrobial Action of Violet-Blue Light (405 nm) in Ex Vivo Stored plasma. Blood Transfus. 2016:2920514. |
| Conditions | Applicants should possess or be about to obtain a 1st class or 2:1 Honours degree or equivalent in a relevant discipline in addition to receipt of satisfactory references and an IELTS score of 6.5 where appropriate. |
| Bench Fee | Running costs of £10000 p.a. will be associated with this project in addition to University tuition fees. |
| Suitable For | This is a multi-disciplinary project and would be good training for a student |
| Apply Now |