About the Project
Bovine tuberculosis (bTB), caused predominantly by Mycobacterium bovis, remains a major challenge for the cattle industry, with important consequences for animal health. Moreover, M. bovis can cause TB in humans, and the immune responses and pathology in cattle with bTB closely mirror those observed in human TB patients.
Extrapulmonary TB manifests in a number of tissues including the eye, and although ocular TB is well recognised in humans the underpinning disease pathology remains unclear. Understanding the immunopathology of ocular TB could impact on treatment regimes, or aid more effective disease identification. In a previous EASTBIO funded PhD we have shown changes in the eyes of cattle with TB, and generated an extensive biobank of material from bovine TB affected and naïve cattle.
Initially, the student will measure immune-cell populations within the healthy, and TB-affected bovine eye. Multiplex antibody staining will be used to identify macrophages, monocytes, dendritic cells, NK cells, T and B cells, together with markers of activation and differentiation. THUNDER imaging will provide high-resolution visualisation of these cells within the tissues. Quantitative image analysis will measure cell frequency, phenotype, localisation, clustering and spatial relationships between immune-cell populations.
Spatial transcriptomics will allow gene expression to be mapped directly onto the tissue architecture and thereby gene expression profiles can be assigned to specific cell populations. This will enable identification of spatially restricted inflammatory, antimicrobial, antigen-presentation, interferon, chemokine and tissue-remodelling pathways.
A major aim will be to integrate the imaging and transcriptomic datasets to identify immune-responses associated with infection and pathology. This will determine not only which immune cells are present, but where they are located, how they interact and which genes and biological pathways they are expressing.
The project will be delivered through a collaboration between the University of Edinburgh, Moorfields Eye Hospital and University College London, bringing together expertise in veterinary immunology, bovine TB, ophthalmology, advanced microscopy, spatial transcriptomics and bioinformatics.
The project will establish techniques enabling the study of ocular changes during bTB infection and will provide interdisciplinary training at the forefront of spatial immunology and infectious disease research. The student would also gain experience of human ocular TB in a clinical setting, facilitating a One Health focussed PhD.
This 4 year PhD project is part of a competition funded by EASTBIO BBSRC Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP). Detailed guidance on the application process, and the EASTBIO Application and Reference Forms can be found at How to Apply | Biology.
Please send your completed EASTBIO Application Form along with a copy of your academic transcripts (as a pdf) to RDSVS.Studentship.Applications@ed.ac.uk. You should also contact your referees and ask them to submit their references (on the EASTBIO reference form template) to RDSVS.Studentship.Applications@ed.ac.uk by the application deadline of 16th November 2026.
Funding Notes
This opportunity is open to UK and international students and provides funding covering stipend and UK level tuition fees. The University of Edinburgh covers the difference between home and international fees meaning that the EASTBIO DTP offers fully-funded studentships to all appointees. There is a cap on the number of international students the DTP recruits. It is therefore important for us to know from the outset which fees status category applicants will fall under when applying to our University.
Please refer to UKRI website and Annex B of the UKRI Training Grant Terms and Conditions for full eligibility criteria.